Rise to Light
by TipsyKitsune
Summary: Hiruzen decides that Naruto is not safe from the villagers and hides his existence. Years later, who is the blond-haired, blue-eyed boy that comes to Konoha? ANBU!Naruto, Undercover!Naruto. Rated M for language, violence, and gore. Complete.
1. Enter the Fox Cub

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

**Chapter 1: Enter the Fox Cub**

* * *

"Hakke Fuin!"

The bodies of Namikaze Minato and Uzumaki Kushina fell to the ground as the body of the fox that stood behind them was sucked into the body of a newborn. With the last of the Kyuubi's chakra sealed, the barrier surrounding the now lost family was dropped.

Sarutobi, the Third Hokage, rushed in and came to a stop as he stared down at the newly created jinchuuriki. The sun-kissed locks were just like his father's whereas the round face was just like his mother's. The three whisker marks that adorned each cheek, however, were the child's own. '_The people must not know of this. If they found out, news of the demon container would spread, and my advisors, especially Danzo, will stop at nothing to make this boy into an emotionless weapon. What to do?_'

The young babe started crying as he started feeling the chills of the wind that were once blocked by his mother's chakra barrier. Sarutobi gently lifted the babe from the stone altar. He turned to ANBU who were standing alert nearby.

"Eagle, go back and alert the council that the Kyuubi threat is now over. Tiger, Deer, bring the bodies to be prepped for burial. Wolf, we are going back to ANBU headquarters." As the ANBU each went to complete the task assigned, Sarutobi and Wolf began their trek back to Konoha.

Wolf turned slightly to glance down at the bundle in his Hokage's arms. "Sir, permission to speak freely?"

"Granted."

"What do you plan to do with… with it?" Wolf was hoping that the Hokage wasn't planning what he thought he was planning.

"Well Wolf, I have decided that his status as a jinchuuriki will be an SS-rank secret to all citizens. He will be raised at the ANBU headquarters away from others who could scorn him as a demon. His existence will be hidden from the village and the council until deemed appropriate." The reinstated Hokage looked up and faced the wolf-masked operative when he noticed stiffness. Chuckling a bit, he asked "Is something the matter?"

"With all due respect Hokage-sama, we are special operatives. I'm not sure we have the-" He paused looking for the right word. "-qualifications to raise a child at headquarters."

Sarutobi nodded as they neared their destination. "I understand your concern. However, this is the best option for his safety and wellbeing. We must put him under our protection until he is of age. There is not a chance I am allowing him to fall into greedy hands. Of course, if he demonstrates the aptitude to become a shinobi, you may train him as you see fit. I believe he can become a great asset to our village in the future."

He stopped in front of a non-descript rock above the Hokage Monument. With a few hand seals and the swiping of blood, the stone rolled away to reveal a staircase. The two figures descended into the darkness as the stone rolled back into place.

* * *

(Four Years Later)

The hallways were dark. The only signs of life were the small pitter-patter of feet against the cold concrete. A wolf-masked figure turned around before being barreled by a blur.

"Oji-san, you're home!" Wolf looked down at the mop of jet-black strands that was now clinging to his uniform with reckless abandon.

A dainty hand grabbed the back of the small boy's shirt and plucked him off. The cat mask had observed the interaction and was most likely smirking underneath the white porcelain. "Naruto-kun, Wolf-san is very tired from his latest mission. You can play with him later." Her long purple hair fell around him as she wrapped her arms around him into a hug.

Wolf couldn't help but smile. It had been four years since the young jinchuuriki had begun living with them. At first, Wolf was wary of having a child staying with them, but as time went on, Naruto had melted their hearts, and Wolf could think of Naruto as nothing less than a son.

"But Cat-nee..." The child whined and gave her the best puppy eyes he could. Cat released his small body when she was sure he wasn't going to attack her team captain again. Kneeling down in front of him, she gave him the gentlest look through the mask.

"You can train with Wolf-taichou later. If you promise to behave, I'll take you to the library." His violet orbs grew to the size of saucers. '_Hook_.'

"And I'll let you eat ramen for dinner." The drool was dripping from the corner of his mouth as he imagined himself eating heaven from a bowl. '_Line_.'

"And I'll show you how to climb trees-" She paused for dramatic effect. "-without your hands!" He began jumping up and down. '_Sinker_.'

"I promise! I promise!" The hand of the four-year-old latched onto her own like a lion to its prey.

Wolf watched in amusement as the mischievous devil he had brought back to HQ was dragging one of his most loyal team members away.

* * *

"Get up." It wasn't a suggestion but an order. The four-year-old glared at his opponent as he willed himself off the floor.

He spit a wad of blood that had been collecting in his mouth and turned to face the wolf-masked shinobi. His eyes burned with a fire hotter than the summer sun.

Running forward, he jabbed his small fists towards the ANBU, but was swiftly knocked off of his feet. "We are not here to brawl Naruto. We are here to protect as shadows cast by the flame. Our duty is to end our targets swiftly and our enemies even swifter." Wolf came up behind his charge and held a kunai to his throat. "We are going to do this again until your form is fitting for a shadow."

Taking away the kunai, he let the boy situate himself again. Wolf's charge was learning at a ridiculously fast pace. In only a few years, he truly believed that Naruto would become one of the strongest shinobi the ANBU had ever produced. The jinchuuriki was already gaining proficiency in kenjutsu and fuinjutsu, and when he grew a little bigger, there was no doubt in Wolf's mind that his taijutsu and speed would increase tenfold.

The young brunet took up a stance and charged once more.

* * *

(Two Years Later)

The lion mask gave the three recruits a quick glance before addressing them. "This is your captain, Kodanuki." A white-cloaked figure stepped out of the darkness. Its height was no more than 1.25 meters, but the voice that spoke was what stunned them the most.

"Soutaichou, is this a joke? They're wet behind the ears. I thought you promised me transfers." It was clearly the voice of a child.

A chuckle left the lips of the usually stoic man. "I leave them in your care." The ANBU Commander disappeared from the room.

Grumbling to himself, the Weasel, Snake, and Gecko masks stared at him in confusion. "Always leaving me with the newbies. One day he's going to realize I can't clean up all the messes myself. One day…" The other three masks sweat-dropped at their new captain.

"Ano, Taichou?" Weasel wasn't sure what to think of the boy that stood before him. He thought he was young for joining the ANBU at eleven, but this boy size suggested he was the same age as Weasel's younger brother.

The fox mask seemed to be observing each one of his new subordinates. "Listen up. First things first, we need to build some trust. We are part of the Information and Espionage division. Trickery is our trade, but I don't want everyone pointing kunai at each other's necks all the time. Second, even if I'm team leader, don't make me clean up after you. I hate cleaning. Finally, I want masks off when we are alone. I don't give a damn about Lion's rules."

Taking the mask away from his face, it revealed the face of a young boy. The three whisker marks on each cheek complemented his violet slit eyes that pierced through their masks.

They knew they had no choice but to obey. The masks slowly fell away from their faces.

* * *

(One Year Later)

Lounging in a tree, Kodanuki glared at the location of his next assignment. He knew he had to do this, yet the thought of he, an expert of infiltration, stooping down to this level to infiltrate this place sent chills down his spine. But he had a promise to fulfill, and he wasn't about to break the promise he had made to his family – to a member of his team, which was now but a memory.

He leapt down causing his blond hair to become disheveled. His eyes reflected the blue of the ocean, and on his lips, he adorned the innocent smile unbefitting of a spy.

Rubbing his thumbs along the bottom of his wrists, he let the cold, hardened eyes of ninja melt into the sunny orbs of a child.

He entered the building as loud as an elephant, slammed open the classroom door, and the marched in like he owned the room. If Wolf saw him now, he would no doubt cook him with a Katon for being as conspicuous as a circus clown.

There was a man standing at the front of the room. He had brown hair done up in a high ponytail and a long scar that crossed his nose. The homeroom teacher glanced at the young boy who had stepped into the room. "And who might you be?"

A grin spread across the already smiling face.

"I'm Uzumaki Naruto, and I'm going to be the next Hokage!"

* * *

**A/N**

**Welcome to my new story! **

**After reading HelloFoxie's"The Origins of Naruto" and its sequel "Things We Know" (definitely recommend both), I wanted to try my hand at ANBU Naruto. **

**I'll be updating weekly, Mondays at 0000 UTC. I'll try my best to stick to a consistent schedule.**

**If you find any errors in my writing, please let me know.**

**Hope you enjoy!**

**\- TK**

* * *

Updated: 02/12/19


	2. A New Team?

"Talking"

'_Thinking_'

**"Demon Talking"**

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

**Chapter 2: A New Team?**

* * *

Naruto stepped into the classroom and sat down in his seat. This would be the last time he was at the academy. With his the hitai-ate on his forehead, he was now a genin of Konohagakure no Sato. Wearing his typical orange jumpsuit, today was the day that he would finally meet his teammates.

His five years at the Academy were finally over. There were good times and bad, but most importantly, he had learned new things. Not at the Academy of course. The only things he considered learned were what he did in his evenings, when he was free to train and take missions. Like everything else, his school time was just a mission, another opportunity to test his acting skills. And act he did. For half a decade, he pretended to be an idiotic, loudmouth dead last. Perhaps now that they were ninja, the Hokage would relieve him of this duty and allow him to reenter ANBU full-time.

He glanced to his left at his mission. Next to him was the brooding form of Uchiha Sasuke, the rookie of the year, or as he liked to think, the biggest teme with duck-butt hair. The blond let out a chuckle at this thought. As he settled down for a nap, a booming laughter could be heard from the ten-story tall fox in his gut.

_'What's so funny?'_ The blond pouted.

**"Just the fact that you're finally a genin after all these years Kit."**

_'Shut it Kurama. You should be happy for me, not laughing in my face.' _

**"Sure sure. I won't deny that I'm happy about it. You're a genin now."** Naruto could feel the fox snickering, but the glee in his voice was undeniable. Kurama was by far his most supportive friend and confidante. "**Oh, here comes the banshee."**

A moment later, voices and screeching could be heard entering the classroom. "I GOT HERE FIRST INO-PIG. NARUTO-BAKA, MOVE SO I CAN SIT WITH MY SASUKE-KUN." A girl with pink hair and emerald eyes was glaring daggers at him.

'_Which card should I play here? Well a little resistance never hurt._' He gave his best face of confusion as he gazed up at her. "Um… no? I got here first, so it's my seat." Sakura just gaped at him and was about to slam her fist into his skull when their teacher Iruka walked in.

"Sakura, please take a seat," he said as he stood at the front of the classroom. Sakura gave Naruto one last glare before sitting down next to him. She listened as Iruka explained the importance of this day and began assigning the teams.

Soon he reached their names. "Team 7 will be Uzumaki Naruto, Haruno Sakura, and Uchiha Sasuke." The pink-haired girl was cheering while the raven was trying not to be annoyed. Naruto just ignored it all, zoning out. He already knew that he would be on the same team as the teme, but a simultaneous thought passed through the minds of both the jailer and the jailed: '_What did we do to deserve the banshee?_'

The next hour was spent watching as teams were collected by their jounin senseis. However, Team 7's sensei had yet to arrive, and they were soon the only three students left.

"WHERE is our sensei? He should have been here by NOW." Naruto grimaced at Sakura's loud voice before standing up and walking to the front of the classroom. Grabbing an eraser, he slid the door open and stuck the eraser to the top of the doorway with a bit of chakra.

"NARUTO-BAKA, WHAT do you think you're doing?" He could feel the pinkette fuming behind him.

"If our sensei doesn't know punctuality, then he deserves this." The blond shrugged, sat back down, and began to nap. He was rewarded with a chuckle from Kurama.

* * *

Two hours later, a man with gravity-defying silver hair wearing a standard jounin outfit, a hitai-ate that covered his left eye, and a mask that covered the lower half of his face opened the door. He was greeted with the sight of three bored students and chalk settling in his hair. The eraser lay ignored on the floor.

"YOU'RE LATE," screeched the pink-haired one.

"My first impression of you is… I hate you. Meet me on the roof in five minutes." With that, Kakashi used a shunshin to wait for his students.

The first to arrive was the raven. The pinkette and the blond soon followed after and sat in front of Kakashi. "Alright, now that we are all here. Let's say some introductions, shall we? Let's start with name, likes, dislikes, hobbies, and dreams. You first." He lazily gestured towards the sorry excuse of a kunoichi.

Sakura looked a bit flustered. "Sensei, why don't you show us how it's done?"

"Uh, okay." Kakashi gave them a bored look. "My name is Hatake Kakashi. I have some likes and some dislikes. My hobbies are plenty, and my dreams are none of your concern. Ok, now Pinky, your turn."

The three students sweat-dropped. In unison, they all thought, '_All we learned was his name._'

"Well, my name is Haruno Sakura. I have likes… like someone I like." A glance at Sasuke and a squeak gave a large hint. "My hobbies… and my dream is…" Another glance and a squeal came from her lips. "And I HATE INO-PIG AND NARUTO-BAKA."

'_I'm going have to figure out how to get the fangirl out of this one._' "Alright then, Broody you're next."

"My name is Uchiha Sasuke. I have few likes and many dislikes. And my dream – no, my ambition – is to restore my clan and kill a certain man." Kakashi could only take a very supported educated guess as to who that man was. '_Looks like he still resents Itachi. I'm not very good with the avenger types._'

"Finally, Blondie."

"Oh! My name is Uzumaki Naruto. I like ramen and Jii-chan. I hate the 3 minutes you have to wait for ramen to cook. My dream is to be the Hokage!" As far as he could tell, there was no deceit in the blond's words, and there was a passion that sparkled in his cerulean eyes. '_He seems like an overall idiot like the girl suggested, but maybe he has some merit._'

That's when it hit Kakashi that the boy in front of him looked suspiciously like another blond. The yellow mop of hair and ocean blue eyes were a match to the cyclop's late sensei. '_Could it be? But Sandaime-sama told me that he was dead…_' He decided to file away his discovery and confront the Hokage another time.

"Okay then. Meet me at Training Ground 7 at 800 hours for your Genin Exam. Oh, I suggest you don't eat anything. You'll just throw it up. That's all." The silver-man escaped the glares of his students with a shunshin, leaving three unsatisfied preteens with leaves on the roof.

As Kakashi observed his potential students from his hiding spot, he knew there was a higher possibility he would fail them. The Uchiha had no interest in his teammates, and the pinkette only had eyes for the raven. They both turned down their orange-clad comrade without a second thought. '_If they manage to pull through, I have my work cut out for me._'

* * *

After his team lunch plans were shot down by his so-called teammates, a sudden chakra pulse at his left shoulder instructed Naruto on his next action.

He went to his apartment and shucked his orange jumpsuit to reveal the standard black ANBU attire but with a maroon flak jacket. The odd-colored jacket was a gift from his uncle Wolf for becoming a team captain. Unsealing his chokuto from the seal on his right wrist, he slung it over his back and attached it firmly. The sword was a gift from his older sister Cat for his eighth birthday. Finally, tapping a seal on his left wrist and unsealing his mask, he placed it on his face and activated a seal drawn behind his left ear. The seal was that of his own creation from countless hours studying fuinjutsu. His blond hair bled to black and his eyes took a red tint, causing them to appear violet, with slit pupils, courtesy of his favorite tenant. The fox even made sure to mask his scent with the overbearing smell of kitsune.

When he had begun his training, much to his chagrin, his blond hair stood out against the shadows. To remedy this, Naruto had created the seal to help him blend in with the darkness. It assisted him with sneaking around unnoticed, and to his delight, it also helped with taking up another's identity in undercover missions. Now, the seals were distributed to every ANBU tasked with infiltration. Although he technically never needed to wear the seal when at home, he found that he was more comfortable with black hair, and thus most ANBU he worked with never knew that he originally was blond. Even the choice to have Kurama's chakra tint his irises was a fashion choice that he greatly enjoyed. As a bonus, they helped him see much better in the dark, something that human eyes had a hard time doing.

With a quick shunshin, he entered the Hokage's office. When he entered the room, he noticed two other ANBU, Hawk and Rabbit, already present. That meant that this was a team operation, a rare event nowadays for our S-rank preteen. He faced forwards towards the elder man sitting behind the desk.

"Ah, Kodanuki-kun. Glad you could make it. Now we are just waiting for Dog to appear."

Naruto perked up at the mention of a temporary teammate he had never met before. While he was pondering the identity of this Dog, his thoughts wandered to another Dog he had seen around HQ. '_But he left three years ago. The Hokage wouldn't ask him to go on an ANBU mission, would he?_'

Half an hour later, his question was answered as a dog-masked operative stepped into the office. His silver hair was a dead giveaway to who exactly was behind the mask. "Sorry I'm late Hokage-sama."

Confusion flickered behind the fox mask. '_Or maybe he would._'

The Hokage cleared his throat. "Now that you are all here, let's get this assignment underway."

* * *

Updated: 19/12/19


	3. Missions Rock

"Talking"

'_Thinking_'

**"Demon Talking"**

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

**Chapter 3: Missions Rock**

* * *

The Hokage did not look impressed. Perhaps it wasn't the smartest move to come so late when the Sandaime had asked Kakashi to fill a spot in an A-rank ANBU mission. He never thought he would have to put back on his dog mask, but it was for anonymity purposes. Still, either the Hokage was going senile or the village was dangerously low on ANBU for something like this to occur. Kakashi was inclined to believe the former regardless of insubordination.

If there was a way to see behind the masks, the scarecrow bet that his team was glaring at him. The office was quiet as Kakashi saw the Hokage prepare to speak. "Now that you are all here, let's get this assignment underway. We have reports of a group of missing nin coming too close to the village. I'm assigning you four to take care of the problem. I'd also like a report on their purpose for straying into the Land of Fire if and only if it is easily obtained. Rabbit, Hawk, Dog, Kodanuki, do I make myself clear?"

"Hai Hokage-sama!" the four ANBU replied together. Sarutobi pulled out a scroll detailing their mission and handed it to Kodanuki. The operative quietly scanned over its contents.

"Kodanuki will be leading this mission. I'm also putting him in charge of information gathering. I expect a full report tomorrow morning. That is all. Dismissed."

The room fell silent once more as the four ANBU disappeared into the shadows.

They rejoined at the top of the west wall and gathered around each other. Kakashi observed his temporary captain.

The fox-masked shinobi looked no older than 13. He had jet black hair and donned standard ANBU attire underneath a red flak jacket. He had a chokuto strapped to his back, the handle decorated with a deep red wrapping detailing small kitsune. The way he held himself made it clear that he was well-versed in leading missions, and everything about him screamed 'professional.'

Kakashi, for the life of him, could not ever recall seeing this operative before, but considering the supposed age of the boy, it was possible that he did not join until after the jounin had retired from the ANBU. Then again, most ANBU never meet each other due to teams tending to keep to themselves. It was very unlikely to meet someone from another division unless you were explicitly transferred.

Unrolling a map, the captain began to speak. "Alright, the group of missing nin is reported to be around a dozen." He pointed to a certain area west of Konoha. "This is their approximate location. Hawk, when we get in range, I want you to give a full report of their numbers and organization using your Byakugan. Then we'll form a plan of attack. It'll take us two hours to get there if we pace ourselves."

Tucking the map away, the four shinobi dashed into the forest, hopping from tree to tree. Kakashi observed his other two teammates. After the debriefing, it was clear that hawk-masked operative was a Hyuuga who had mid-length black hair. The other ANBU Rabbit was kunoichi with dark green hair that swept back in a high ponytail. While Hawk moved with speed and agility, Rabbit tended to misstep a bit more at the speed they were moving, signifying that she was a novice when it came to keeping up ANBU speeds.

The silence that they had fallen under lasted for another hour. However, it was Rabbit who spoke up.

"Ne, Kodanuki-san. How old are you exactly?" This was something Kakashi was also curious about it, though he showed no signs of it.

"Rabbit, if I were you, I would refrain from speaking too much." Kodanuki drew out a short sigh. "But, to answer your question, twelve."

The silver-haired ninja could not believe that his prediction was almost spot on. Rabbit pondered this for a few minutes. If the jounin could see behind his teammate's mask, he bet that the kunoichi was pouting. Then she piped up again. "Wait, how old were you when you began ANBU then?"

Another long sigh was his reply. "Classified."

Kakashi knew that ANBU were sometimes brought in from orphanages if they showed promise, but he couldn't help but wonder what situation would require information on an ANBU's initiation date to be classified. He wasn't given much time to think about it as Kodanuki suddenly slowed.

"They are much closer than I feared. I can sense their chakra from here." The group landed in a small clearing a few minutes later. "Hawk, please report." The ex-ANBU was impressed with his leader's abilities. He must be a very good sensor to catch it before Hawk's eyes did.

"There are 10 missing nin from Iwa grouped together. Looks like they have set up a camp in a ravine. One seems to be a non-combat medic. The rest carry an assortment of weapons and most likely are well-versed in ninjutsu, genjutsu, and taijutsu. There is currently one enemy on watch and alert. The rest are lounging around. Kodanuki-san, there also seems to be some restrained young women down there."

The young brunet hissed, "Those bastards. No doubt they kidnapped those girls. Rabbit, you're in charge of rescue and securing the medic for interrogation. Hawk, Dog, we'll approach their camp from all sides. Dog, take the east. Hawk, take the west. Is that clear?" All the members nodded. "Good. When I jump in, commence the operation." Kodanuki stood up and signaled for them to get into position.

Kakashi crawled forward against the rock wall of the ravine. The plan was so simple that, to Kakashi, it seemed like it was never going to work. From his location, he watched as Kodanuki suddenly jumped into the center of the camp._ 'What is he doing? Is he suicidal? He wasn't joking when he said he would jump in.'_ His surprise didn't last long as Kakashi prepped a raikiri and thrusted his arm through the closest ex-Iwa shinobi. As the heart his hand touched burst from the powerful lightning attack, he jumped back to avoid a dosekiryuu.

A shunshin later, he attacked a pair of redheaded ninja. '_Twins_.' They teamed against the silver-haired leaf nin and began throwing Doton jutsu around. Between dodging attacks and trying to find an opening, he missed the ninja that had appeared behind him after using an iwagakure jutsu. Suddenly, he felt a kunai pierce his back. Coughing up blood, he saw a red and black blur cut his attacker in half.

* * *

(A few minutes earlier)

Kodanuki peeked over the edge of the ravine. _'Should I do this the sneaky way or the flashy way?'_

**"Kit, flashy is best. Make them burn." **

The now-brunet snorted at his inner demon. _'Of course, you would say that. But this time, I agree. They've strayed too close to home to deserve the quiet way out.'_ If you could see behind his mask, you would be met with a face with less emotion than the fox covering it.

He jumped down into the center of the camp; the moonlight's gleam off of his unsheathed chokuto was the only indication of his arrival. Before the first enemy could react, he was already in a pool of his own blood.

**"One down."**

Three ex-Iwa nin turned to face him, their eyes reflecting a mix of anger, bloodlust, and glee. A boulder flew past his head as he met swords with a man twice his size. Engaging in some taijutsu, Kodanuki leaned back to avoid a punch to his face and dealt a blow to the man's chest.

**"Nice hit! Next, kick him! Kick him!" **

A chakra-enhanced roundhouse kick sent the man flying back. A woman no older than thirty replaced him as she tried to corner him with mud clones. He cut down the doppelgangers, one by one, watching as they returned to their natural substance. Dodging to the side, he missed being squished by another boulder.

**"That was close. Pay more attention."**

'_It would be a lot easier without the commentary.'_

The gleam in his purple eyes spoke nothing but trouble. He took a kenjutsu stance and enveloped his chokuto with a deep red fire. The eyes of his three opponents widened in recognition as they were quickly decapitated, their bodies slowly burning away from the tongues that had licked them.

**"Cooked human always tasted so much better." **

Ignoring the hungry beast in his belly who wouldn't shut up about roasted long pork, Kodanuki turned to observe how his other teammates were faring. Rabbit had knocked out the medic and had her over her shoulder as she escorted the village women away from the camp. Hawk had taken care of two enemies with obvious juuken. Turning to the east, he cursed as he saw one of Dog's opponents had used a mud clone to sneak behind the ex-ANBU and thrust a kunai towards his right lung.

With a shunshin, he stood above Dog, slicing the enemy in half as his hair involuntarily became the color of the redhead's that he had just slain. "Damnit! Get yourself together Dog! Have your senses dulled that much? Looks like age is catching up to you."

"Sorry Kodanuki-san." The silver-haired ninja slowly stood up. "There's still the twin."

Grabbing Dog and jumping away quickly, Kodanuki avoided another large boulder. '_Damn, it's really raining rocks today._' He could hear the booming snicker of the fox. "Hawk!"

The remaining redhead enemy found himself in a crippling pile of bones after having several of his tenketsu suddenly overloaded with chakra. The world fell dark as a blade at his neck severed his spine.

"Rabbit, Dog needs medical assistance!" The brunet watched as his teammate started running towards them after tying the medic to a tree and putting the village girls under a deep sleep genjutsu. Green palms lit up and scanned Dog's lungs. Pulling out the kunai, the wound slowly stopped bleeding. Rabbit instructed Dog to remove his clothing and began to wrap a bandage around the silver-haired shinobi's body.

"I'm okay now. Thank you, Rabbit-san." Dog sat down to rest. Naruto inspected Rabbit's work, and after deeming it acceptable, pulled out a rag to clean his chokuto. The soothing monotony of the action helped prepare him for what he was about to do.

When he sensed the chakra of the medic flicker, he sheathed his sword and began to walk to his last victim. The girl, who looked no older than twenty-three, struggled to her feet as her eyes flitted open.

"Now let's see what this pretty little lady has to say for herself." The medic looked in fear as the fox ANBU covered in her former friends' blood started to walk towards her.

* * *

**A/N**

**Death's-Touch: There will not be any pairings.**

**I've decided this will not be a serious fic. **

**Thanks for reading! **

**\- TK**

* * *

Updated: 16/12/19


	4. There's Torture in His Past

"Talking"

'_Thinking_'

_Flashback_

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

**Warning: torture**

**Chapter 4: There's Torture in His Past**

* * *

_The lights flickered a bit in the dark room. A seven-year-old Kodanuki stood in the Torture & Interrogation center buried deep underground. From his position outside the window of Interrogation Room B, his emotionless purple eyes silently gazed ahead as the associate head of T&I, Morino Ibiki, a tokubetsu jounin whose visible skin was littered with scars, questioned the poor fellow who was the target of Kodanuki's latest mission. _

_There was no need for Ibiki to physically harm the enemy who had already fallen victim to the T&I nin's mental torture. When the man finally ran out of breath, fainting from the strain, the tokubetsu jounin stepped into the side room. _

_"Did you catch all that? The key to being a good torturer is to never falter. Show no sign of recoiling from your own violent acts. Demonstrate that your will can break theirs, and you will most definitely be able to elicit everything you need." _

_The brunet nodded in response but did not break his gaze away from the broken man chained to the wall of Room B. "Sir, may I try the next one?" His eyes slowly lifted up to meet the scarred man's._

_"Anko's playing with his partner in Room A right now. Perhaps you'd like to observe her before attempting it yourself." Kodanuki nodded and slipped into the observation room next door. There he watched his former teammate tear apart her _toy_. This would be the start to developing his style, reminiscent of his teammate's own._

* * *

"Rabbit, Hawk, secure the perimeter. This may take a while."

Kakashi watched as Kodanuki slammed his palm into the ground, a privacy seal expanding in a dome shape until it was about 15 meters in diameter. The jounin would regret not leaving the sound barrier before the main event began.

The brunet strode up to the medic whose wrists were tied together with a rope that dropped down from the tree above. With a swift kick, she was knocked off her feet so that her entire weight was being supported by her arms which were pulled taut between the rope and her shoulders. She was struggling with something in her mouth, although she didn't have time to swallow. Killing intent stretched out towards her. She froze and, with a punch to her gut, began to vomit, spitting out a small white pill.

With a mischievous voice, the young boy finally began speaking. "Ne, ne, Nee-chan. You can't be doing drugs. They're no good. Let's play! Kurama says he wants to play with you too. We can play together."

The blood-drenched killer of her friends began to stroke her lips wiping away the acidic fluid dribbling down to her chin. "Ne, ne, Nee-chan, what's your name?" When he received no reply, his next words came out as a whisper. "Kurama says we should remove some of your shiny white ivories. Don't want you to go bite off that cute pink tongue."

Her eyes widened in fear, and she shook her head vigorously. His fingers pried open her mouth with unknown strength, and she could only watch as with a flick of his wrist, a bloody tooth landed in the grass.

The medic gave him pleading eyes that begged him to stop. When she looked through the holes of the mask, her fear was renewed from the amethyst eyes of a fox – no, a demon. Another molar dropped out of Kodanuki's hand as a small scream escaped her mouth. "See? Isn't this so much better? Let's keep playing! Or are you ready to start talking?"

And so, the screams and the pleas that streamed out of her mouth soon began to leak information. But at this point, Kakashi could not bear to listen and had opted to step out of the barrier and watch within the silence of the forest.

* * *

When Kodanuki had finished, he injected her with a lethal poison and gently set her body down. Kneeling and whispering a few prayers, he watched as his broken victim's eyes lost the last of their light. Not that there was much, though. After all, she did leave the world with four less teeth, two less fingers, dislocated shoulders, and dead eyes. Pulling her eyelids closed, he let her head rest against the bloodstained gravel. Withdrawing a scroll, he began writing down all the information he had gathered from the hours they spent together.

There was nothing Kodanuki liked about torture. It was something he had learned out of necessity rather than desire. Watching himself peel away the layers of a person like an onion made him want to cry, but he had to do what needed to be done. The best way to forget the hurt was to pretend it was all a game. ANBU, even if it was all he had ever known, was all a game that he would one day stop playing… he hoped.

Once the brunet sealed away the scroll, he ran a hand through his sticky hair. Kodanuki glanced to each of his teammates. Throwing an empty scroll to each of them, he ordered them to seal all the bodies away. You never know what intel you could glean from dead bodies.

Rabbit soon reported that she escorted the previously captured villagers back to their nearby home. With the last of the cleanup done, the group left the ravine and headed back to Konoha. It was nearly midnight before they slipped back over the village walls. As the temporary team broke up, Naruto headed to the Hokage Tower to make his report.

Silently striding through the ANBU entrance of the tower, he entered the office to see Sarutobi snickering at an orange book, which could only be the infamous _Icha Icha Paradise_.

* * *

Behind all the stacks of paperwork, Sarutobi felt like he always had an itch he must scratch. That itch was quelled in the form of the passionate tome he currently held in his hands. He was so enraptured by the book that he didn't notice when a certain brunet entered his office.

Naruto cleared his throat. "Sir, here to report our mission was a success."

Scrambling to set his book down, the Sandaime finally looked away from the lively pages. "Naruto-kun, what have I said about the formalities. No one is here. Take off your mask." Sarutobi looked ahead as he received a 'Yes, Hokage-sama' and the young boy revealed his face. The elder man smiled warmly.

The brunet handed him a scroll. "May I go now? Team 7 is having their genin exam this morning, and I would like to-" he gestured to his clothes. "-clean up a bit before meeting them."

He watched the young jinchuuriki bow before leaving his office. With a sigh, Sarutobi thought back to the last day Naruto had called him by the affectionate nickname 'Jiji.'

_"JIJI."_

_The Hokage looked up from his paperwork to see a fuming seven-year-old Naruto. "Ah, Naruto-kun. Are you alright?"_

_Naruto, leaking some killing intent, gave him his best glare, which was pretty good considering he was an A-rank ninja. "Don't you play dumb with me Jiji. Why do I return to the village to find the Uchiha clan massacred? I know what they ordered Itachi to do last week. How could you let them? Itachi dedicated his life to protecting this place, and now you're letting them send him away." _

_Sarutobi set down the document he was reading and folded his hands in front of him. "You must understand Naruto. The Uchiha were planning a coup. I didn't want it to come to this, but it was decided this was for the best."_

_A whisper escaped the blond's lips. "Tell me you fought it." Naruto was shaking. "Tell me you fought against this damn decision because, if you don't, then I won't forgive you for this one Jiji. This could have been settled in a civil manner. You didn't have to resort to mass murder!" _

_Words would not escape his mouth. After a moment, the Hokage spoke up with an apologetic tone, "Naruto-kun, I-" _

_"Don't say you're sorry. Don't you damn say you're sorry!" _

_The elder man could only watch as one of his best ANBU left his office in a mess of emotions, not even waiting for a full reply. There was a reason he had sent the boy out on a month-long mission. Little did the boy know that he hadn't been planning on whole-heartedly apologizing._

After that fateful day, Naruto's team had disbanded, with Anko and Hayate entering the shinobi forces as tokubetsu jounin. The boy had thrust himself into his work, refusing to take any breaks. The lively brunet began to study harder whether it be locking himself in the library to learn new seals or spending days on end in the T&I department learning and testing torture methods.

Sarutobi had felt a bit bad about the whole ordeal, so he enrolled Naruto undercover into the Academy. Then, at least, he could make friends his own age and spend some time without the pressure that came with being an ANBU Captain. Although Naruto no longer took long-term assignments, he often completed local A- or B-rank missions. Note that the Hokage was most definitely not going to stop one of his best shinobi if said shinobi wanted to go on missions during his free time. It benefited the village after all. This left the boy barely any time to focus on his studies – not that he needed it – and he spent most days sleeping in class, earning him the title of dead-last.

'_Perhaps_ _I'm getting too old for this._' He rubbed a hand over his face. '_Naruto-kun, where did the bright boy we raised go?_' Was he complaining? Sarutobi wasn't really sure.

* * *

**A/N**

**I had a lot of fun writing this chapter. The torture scene utilized reverse hanging, which apparently is a very effective form of physical torture. Hopefully, I didn't botch it up too much. Naruto's acting skills were to mess with the medic. He most definitely will not sound like that all the time.**

**\- TK**

* * *

Updated: 19/12/19


	5. Outside the Village We Go

"Talking"

'_Thinking_'

_Flashback_

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

**Chapter 5: Outside the Village We Go**

* * *

It was a normal sunny day in Konohagakure no Sato: the birds were chirping, the squirrels were running through the trees, and Sarutobi was swamped with paperwork.

Suddenly the door slammed open, and in walked a headache. "Yo Jii-chan! You got a mission for us?"

Team 7 had successfully passed their genin test a few weeks ago. Currently, they had completed 15 D-rank missions. '_Perhaps they deserve a little more challenge_.'

It had been a surprise to everyone when the one and only Hatake Kakashi had actually passed his team. Sarutobi hadn't seen the other jounin that shocked in a long while, and he even made some cash on the side.

The silver-haired man had claimed that his team had understood the concept of teamwork. However, sharing food was very different than working missions, and watching the genin interact with each other was difficult to say the least.

"NARUTO-BAKA, you can't call Hokage-sama that!" The pinkette of the team punched him into the ground. The Uchiha entered stepping around the crater where Naruto lay.

"S-S-Sakura-chan, that hurt," the boy replied, holding his head as a large welt appeared.

The elder man sighed as he watched the two genin bicker with each other. Even if he wasn't pleased about the obvious disrespect, he couldn't help but smile a little. Although the name was just a part of the blond's undercover act, Sarutobi was glad to hear Naruto calling him "Jii-chan." Anything was better than the formal "Hokage-sama." He turned to face their sensei, who was in no way trying to stop his students from destroying each other.

"Kakashi, how is your team faring?"

Said man glanced up from his little orange book. "Well, Hokage-sama, I think they deserve a mission, if only to expend some of their pent-up energy."

The Hokage chuckled. "Well then I think I have a solution for that." He pulled out a mission scroll and handed it to the cyclops. The team quieted down as they watched their sensei scan through the scroll. "That there is a C-rank mission to deliver these supplies-" He handed them another scroll. "-to one of the western outposts at our border with the Land of Rivers. Of course, it is low risk considering it is within our borders, and the worst you may encounter are bandits, so rest assured, I believe you'll be able to complete this successfully."

"Yatta! Our first C-rank. Thanks a bunch, Jii-chan!" Naruto gave a smile that was just a bit too large before his face met with the fist of his teammate again.

The silver-haired man closed his book. "We'll meet at the gate in an hour. You better pack for a week-long trip." He bowed to the Hokage. "Excuse us."

Sarutobi nodded, but then spoke up. "Naruto-kun, I'd like to have a word with you before you go." Worry crossed the young boy's face as he nodded.

As the doors were closing behind Sakura, he heard her speak. "He's probably going to get scolded for calling Hokage-sama weird names. Right Sasuke-kun?" she said uncaringly as she fawned over Sasuke. The only reply she received was "Hn."

* * *

An hour later, Shikamaru was walking towards the gate when he saw Team 7 gathered there. The only person they seemed to be waiting for was their sensei.

"Where is he?" As Sakura was cursing the scarecrow for being late, Team 10 approached the gates to get their own C-rank mission started.

"Sasuke-kun! You have a mission too?" A blonde blur slammed into Sasuke's stiff body.

"INO-PIG! GET AWAY FROM SASUKE-KUN!" The banshee began screaming at her friend who was adamant about clinging to the Uchiha's arm. Ino turned around and blew a raspberry in the I-got-here-first-so-he's-mine kind of manner.

Naruto turned to greet the other two genin with a big smile and a wave. "Shikamaru, Chouji! How's it going?" One response was Chouji furiously snacking on a bag of potato chips.

"Troublesome," muttered Shikamaru. "We have to guard a bridge builder to the Land of Waves. Chouji here is especially upset because the client called him…" No words needed to be said as both understood that whoever their client was had insulted Chouji about his weight.

The shadow-user observed the blond as he explained that they were doing a supplies delivery. For all the time he knew him, the Nara couldn't figure out the enigma that was Uzumaki Naruto. Back at the Academy, the dead-last did one of two things: silently sleep in class or loudly proclaim his dream. There was no in-between.

He remembered one day when the blond was so tired that he hadn't even greeted Shikamaru before plopping down in his seat and quietly snoring through class. Iruka had not been happy. It ended with Naruto sporting new bruises from being kicked off of his seat before he had woken up. The moment his blue eyes had drowsily cracked open, he began to shout like he hadn't been sleeping the entire time. The class was in an uproar, and Iruka had given Naruto detention for a week.

Focusing back on their mission, the Ino-Shika-Cho team waved goodbye to their friends as they, along with their sensei, began to escort a drunk old man out of the village.

* * *

Team 7 could only stand around as waiting by the gates was emerged in silence once again. A poof of smoke later, they were greeted by the cyclops giving his eye smile. "Yo!"

"YOU'RE LATE." Naruto and Sasuke slowly backed away from the angry pinkette.

"You see, I got lost on the road of life." The jounin rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.

"LIAR!" If the boys didn't hold her back, she would have pummeled the team leader to an unrecognizable pulp.

After that whole ordeal was settled, Team 7 set off to the southwest. Deciding to stick to the trees, they ran at a decent pace for genin as the leaves blurred past. Hours passed. The only sounds coming from the group were the chatting of the loudmouth dressed in orange and the sighs of his other three teammates.

Before they knew it, four days had passed, and the wooden shape of the outpost soon came into view before the sun had reached its zenith. Naruto was glad that this part of his mission would soon be over. The incessant screaming of the banshee and the brooding of the Uchiha were starting to get on his nerves. Not that he could say much though as he had to keep up his loudmouth dead-last mask.

Kakashi went to talk to whomever was in charge, and soon reemerged from the base.

"Alright everyone. We are going to stay here for the rest of the day and start heading back to the Konoha tomorrow." Naruto cheered loudly throwing his arms in the air. "This doesn't mean we will be doing nothing though." The blond's face suddenly became dejected. "We are going to be climbing trees!"

The confusion spread through all the genin. Sakura was the one to speak up. "But Sensei, they taught us how to climb trees at the Academy."

The silver-haired man shook his head. "You will be climbing without using your hands." The shock was evident on all three of their faces. "Just watch."

Kakashi gathered some chakra and began to stroll up the trunk of the tree, defying gravity not unlike his unruly hair. Their jaws dropped, and Naruto began cheering that it was the coolest thing ever.

Sakura surprisingly got the exercise down quickly. Naruto and Sasuke seemed a bit slower. When it came down to it, though, it was obvious that their struggles were caused by their large chakra reserves whereas Sakura's was pitifully small.

For the rest of the day, the young boys struggled to climb the trees, marking the highest point they could reach with a kunai before falling down. When they had exhausted all their chakra, the panting boys rested for the night.

As the rest of the team promptly slept, Naruto made a shadow clone, climbed out of his bedroll, and left the room. Exiting the base, he snuck into the darkness of the forest. He melted into the safety of the shadows as he was checking to make sure that none of the ninja in the outpost had sensed his departure.

With his mask in place and his seals activated, Naruto disappeared.

* * *

Sarutobi was filling out forms from his never-ending stack of papers when a breeze caused the documents to scatter on the floor. He looked up to face the wolf mask that stood before him and pressed the red button that allowed him to speak to his secretary.

"I would like no interruptions for the next five minutes."

"Understood sir." The click signaled the release of the intercom. He motioned for the ANBU to begin.

"Sir, how is he doing? He hasn't come by recently, and Cat is starting to worry about her little brother."

No names needed to be spoken. Both men knew that there was only one boy that Cat had come to love and respect as a younger brother. The purple-haired kunoichi and her fiancé had basically adopted the rambunctious jinchuuriki as family and taught him everything they knew of kenjutsu.

The Hokage picked up his pipe for a quick smoke before sighing deeply. "I recently gave him an infiltration mission. This will give him a chance to do what he likes outside of the village. I'm sure you've already heard that his team passed their genin exam." A curt nod was his response. Sarutobi thought back to the mission assignment a few days ago.

_"Naruto-kun I'd like to have a word with you before you go." The blond showed signs of anxiety and stress. However, after closing the door behind his teammates, it melted away. He stood at attention in front of the Hokage. "How are you doing Naruto?" _

_Sarutobi received a confused look. "Hokage-sama, with all due respect, I would rather not waste time with pleasantries." The cerulean eyes were dull. None of their previously existing spark were present in those empty orbs. They reflected the loneliness of a seasoned killer._

_A grim smile wormed its way onto the elder man's face. "Yes, of course. I'll get to the point then." Sarutobi could not understand why the young boy refused to relax just once. "To tell the truth, I need you on a mission." _

_"Sir, you have just assigned my team a mission." Then realization dawned on his face. "This mission is a cover for another." It came out as a statement rather than a question. _

_The Hokage nodded and finished explaining the situation. Every so often, Naruto would nod his head in understanding. This was a mission perfectly suited for him, and the cover gave the perfect opportunity. "The bare minimum number of ANBU are currently in the village, so if you could take care of it, it would be a great relief. I wouldn't have to jeopardize the safety of the village for this." _

_The blonde cringed at the obvious guilt-tripping from the Third. "I understand. It will be handled swiftly." Sarutobi handed him a scroll with the details. With a bow, the boy left the room. _

Wolf spoke up again. "What is this mission that you let a genin team take a C-rank just to allow him time outside the village to complete it?"

A chuckle escaped his lips. "Just a loose end in the Land of Waves."

* * *

Updated: 23/12/19


	6. Kurama and Me

"Talking"

'_Thinking_'

**"Demon Talking"**

_Flashback_

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

**Chapter 6: Kurama and Me**

* * *

The sticky fluid of life contrasted the green blades of grass. A head rolled on the ground.

"Son of a bitch! You killed my brother!" The crazy-eyed ninja launched a Suiton jutsu at the masked figure.

_Dodge. Slash. Stab. _Another body joined the growing pile.

"No! Takumi!" The woman attempted to slice the perpetrator in half with Takigakure's renowned watercutting sword. However, before she had a chance, it felt like liquid fire was spreading from her lungs. "Monster…" was the last whisper that escaped her lips before her body was the last to fall onto the pile.

The last standing figure proceeded to store the bodies away and clean up so that it didn't look like there was just a murder of three. As the perpetrator's body vanished in a puff a smoke, a scroll was left in the grass.

Naruto stepped out of the darkness and took the scroll containing the three corpses. From the shadows, he had watched his shadow clone's work… Kodanuki's work… his work. The paper weighed heavily in his hand.

* * *

Kurama observed as his vessel began walking away from the recent carnage site. From the boy's body language, the fox could tell that something was bothering him. His feet carried him from branch to branch, but he soon slowed to a stop. Body tense, he seated himself, with legs bent and arms wrapped around them, before resting his head against the trunk and staring through the foliage. The moon shone brightly as the leaves' shadows danced across a worried face. Unshed tears glistened upon the cerulean orbs.

**"Kit, are you doing alright?"** It was a pointless question since Kurama had always been able to read his Kit like a book, but he always made an effort to ask.

A tear drop fell down to splash against the stone floor. Naruto raised his head to come face to face with his inner demon. They were no longer in the forest but in the cave that was Naruto's mindscape. A small whisper escaped the blond's lips.

"No."

The giant chakra construct frowned. Every so often, Naruto would have a mental breakdown. They weren't frequent at first, but over the years, the stress was affecting the child more and more. Being part of espionage required very little, if at all necessary, violence. There was barely any blood staining the small hands back when he was seven. However, it all changed with that unfortunate event five years ago which tore apart Naruto's family. That was the start, Kurama remembered, of the blond's turmoil.

_Kurama was tired. The mindscape was cold: the winds were howling, and warmth was practically nonexistent. He had just listened to his jailor confront his jailor's superior, the Hokage, about an incident resulting in the flight of his jailor's brother from the village. His crimson eye creaked open as he was met with a broken blue gaze. Never in the three years he had spoken with the boy had he seen that gaze. Slowly, the chaos in the blond's mind was coming to an end. Over the dying winds, he could barely make out the kit's words. _

_"Please teach me how to kill."_

And so, the demon taught the human his tricks.

Now, he could tell that he would have to console his jinchuuriki yet again. Shrinking down to his human form, he beckoned the kit to step forward.

* * *

Naruto watched as the giant fox assumed his human form. It was something his friend saved for only occasions such as these. Behind the bars, was a man about 1.8 meters in height who wore a formal blood red kimono and haori with a lighter maroon hakama underneath. If you were to see him, it was not the crimson slit eyes nor the three dark whisker marks on each of his cheeks that stood out the most. No, it was the two orange fox ears that poked out of his burgundy mane and the nine orange tails that were lazily swinging behind him.

A small wave of the hand signaled Naruto to enter. Kurama slid down into a feral stance while still remaining on two feet. Naruto followed along, entering his own fighting stance. As if hearing a silent signal, they rushed towards each other.

This was not the first time Naruto had come to Kurama for support. It actually happened quite frequently. The demon fox was not the best at comforting, so they sparred it out as a way of releasing tension. Sometimes the pain was bearable but most of the time Naruto ended up a sobbing, beat-up heap.

This time was no different.

First came the denial. The blond tightened his fists as he dodged a swipe of sharp claws. "I didn't kill them. My kage bunshin did. It wasn't me. I didn't kill them."

**"You know that's not true Kit. Your kage bunshin is an extension of yourself. If you don't want to accept this, then stop doing these kinds of missions."** A kick knocked down Naruto.

Then came the anger. He rolled to dodge an axe kick. "Damn it Kurama! You know I can't do that. Whose side are you on anyways? And why did I have to go and kill them?!"

**"The side that's best for you. Obviously, you aren't meant for assassinations. You were always more of the sneak your way in and out kind of ninja." **Kurama evaded a punch towards his sternum.

Following that was the bargaining. "Next time, I'll spare them. I won't cause them any pain. Don't you think that's the right thing to do?" A follow-up roundhouse kick attempted to hit the fox.

**"You would be going against your hokage's orders."**

"Not helping," he said through clenched teeth.

**"I'm just saying it as I see it." **

Next was the depression. "I'm done. I can't work like this anymore." The sobbing began as his smaller body was picked up by two of the kitsune's orange tails.

**"Then quit." **Another tail came up and jabbed Naruto straight in the stomach. Between the coughing and crying, he fell to the ground.

Finally, the acceptance came. "You know I can't do that. It's ok." He breathed slowly. "I killed them. But I made a vow to sacrifice myself for the village. I'm not going to back down now."

The truth was that the five-year-old vow had long been fulfilled. Naruto had sworn to kill as many as they had forced his brother Itachi to kill that fateful night. It was the only way he could accept the fact that he hadn't been able to save him that day, the day that his family was split apart.

Now, though, he was in far too deep. He was one of the best field operatives for this kind of work. The Hokage's first choice was always Naruto for local missions. The blond had neither the need nor the gall to refuse the Hokage when he himself knew that his skills were necessary.

He was shocked out of his thoughts when Kurama offered him a hand up. **"When did I become a therapist to my cute jinchuuriki?**" Looking up at the kitsune, Naruto's laughter brightened up the mindscape like the soothing ring of bells. **"Did I say that out loud?" **

"Kurama, you're blushing." A smile had crept up on the blond's face. He remembered the night he found out about his tenant.

_A small boy was led to the locked front door of a nondescript house in the dead of night. "Jiji, what are we doing here?" The cerulean gaze of the boy looked up to the shape of an elderly man._

_"Naruto-kun, this is your parents' house. I believe you wanted to learn more about them, right?" A large smile and a vigorous nod were his response. "Here's what you must do." The man took out a kunai and nicked the boys thumb. _

_"Ow! What was that for Jiji?" The three-year-old glared at his surrogate grandfather. Blood started leaking heavily from the cut._

_Making a motion across the door, Sarutobi showed him what to do. "You need to swipe the blood over the door like so." After Naruto followed his example, a yellow light illuminated the door and disappeared. _

_The cerulean eyes grew wide. "Wow! That was so cool! Can you show me how to do stuff like that?" _

_The old man just chuckled and led Naruto through the door, down a hallway, and into a room. "This was their library. It holds all of their work on fuinjutsu, the study of sealing._

_Naruto's face scrunched up in confusion the way only a young child could express it. "But there's nothing here Jiji." He thought for a moment. "Wait! Is this like the thing with the door?" Another chuckle and nod came from Sarutobi. The elder man pointed at the far back wall. Naruto opted to bite his thumb and spread blood on the plaster before it also glowed yellow and vanished. _

_At this point, Naruto's eyes were sparkling in amazement as he saw the bookcases that lined the walls filled with books and scrolls. The blond ran to the nearest shelf and began flipping through notebooks, not caring that he had started ignoring the man who brought him there. _

_He stumbled upon a book still sitting open on the desk in the center of the library. '_Methods of Sealing Kyuubi?_' He kept reading. '_Hakke Fuin?_' Then he saw the picture depicting the seal, and his eyes widened. It was the same thing that appeared on his stomach whenever he tried to do cool ninja stuff like his family did. '_Kyuubi? What's that?_' _

_His three-year-old mind could not comprehend everything he had read and began jumping to conclusions. Strange pictures matching a mark on his stomach could only mean one thing to the young mind. '_Am I Kyuubi?_'_

_Booming laughter invaded his thoughts._

_Round blues eyes opened to see a gigantic gate in the middle of a cave reminiscent of ANBU HQ. The only thing keeping the gate closed was a small piece of paper with the word _seal _written on it. The laughter could be heard coming from beyond the darkness, and slowly the darkness reflected a large red slit eye. A grin spread across the giant's face. _

**_"So, I'm graced with the presence of my jailor. What an _****honor_." _**_It spat out the word like it had burnt its tongue._

_The boy quickly got over any fear he may have had. "Fox! You're so big and fluffy!" A comedic sweat-drop from the fox marked the start of a beautiful friendship. _

Suddenly, Naruto decide perhaps he wouldn't head towards his next destination just quite yet. The blond settled against the wall next to the fluff ball he called his friend and promptly fell asleep.

Outside of his mindscape, his clone was grumbling about unfair bosses.

* * *

**"Kit, you ought to wake up." **The demon fox mentally nudged the preteen.

"Kurama, let me sleep." This was one rare occasion Naruto actually had to sleep in without a pressing matter pushing him to be alert. His whining stopped when he was jolted awake, not by his tenant, but by the sudden memories of a clone of his clone.

_Team 7 was getting ready to head back to Konoha. Naruto was starting to sweat as his real self, or Boss as the clones liked to call him, had yet to confirm completing the first objective of their primary mission. A hawk swooped down and, with a screech, landed on Kakashi's outstretched arm. Grabbing the small note out of the carrier's pouch, Naruto noticed Kakashi stiffen although the jounin's years of training helped him to hide it well. _

_"Change of plans. Team 10 encountered missing nin during their mission and are requesting immediate back up. Since we are closest, we are heading to the Land of Waves." Confused looks passed along their faces. Soon, it was replaced with understanding, and they changed course to the south. _

_The blond clone discretely made and dispelled a bunshin to inform his creator. _

'_Damn. We have to catch up to them now. Why didn't you wake me up earlier baka?_' A tick mark appeared. If only the jailor could punch his prisoner into a wall right now.

**"That's what I was trying to do," **a grumble replied. Only Naruto got away with calling the demon fox an idiot to his face.

* * *

Updated: 26/12/19


	7. Waves Come Crashing In

"Talking"

'_Thinking_'

**"Demon Talking"**

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

**Chapter 7: Waves Come Crashing In**

* * *

Takumi the Taki nin entered the mansion of the wealthiest man in this country. As he was escorted through the hallways, he ignored the stares of the thugs and the cries of the defeated women. The air reeked of alcohol, and the whole building was drenched in vileness.

Stepping through the ornate double doors, he came face to face with a man of short stature with hair too big for his head. The beady eyes behind small round glasses scrutinized Takumi before the man behind the desk smiled in a conspiratorial way. Bowing before his potential business partner, the missing nin waited to be addressed.

"Welcome to my humble abode. I hope they have been treating you well. What can I do for you?"

Takumi lifted his gaze. "Gato-san-" The sitting man raised an eyebrow. "-I would like to offer my services to you, not as a hired man but as a partner."

The small man leaned forward and rested his chin atop his folded hands. "Oh? What is your proposal?"

"Word on the street is that you are currently seeking a certain bridge builder to be taken care of and that this bridge builder is under the care of Konoha nin. Those leaf scum killed my siblings when we were minding our own business." His hand tightened to a fist. "I want _revenge_." He exclaimed the word in as much bloodlust as possible. The Taki nin allowed it to sink in. "I am offering my skills as a shinobi. I will deal with any loose ends you may have without pay as long as you provide the opportunity for my vengeance." He relaxed a bit and judged Gato's reaction.

The businessman in Gato could not pass up such a great opportunity, but something seemed off. It wasn't everyday an A-rank missing nin offered his services for free.

"What's the catch?"

"It's simple really. I want your word that you won't consider me a loose end afterwards. I get my revenge. Your problems are taken care of. We both forget it happened and do not pursue to stab each other in the back."

Gato mulled over this for a moment. Everyone knew that a businessman honors his word, but Gato wasn't just a businessman.

"You've got yourself a deal."

* * *

Shikamaru knew something was up the moment he set eyes on the drunk old man. However, he didn't think much of it until they arrived at the bridge builder's home after being attacked by not one, not two, but three missing nin. How Ino had convinced Asuma to continue the mission was beyond him. Who cared that Konoha's name and their mission records may be tarnished if they rejected the mission? Apparently, Ino and Asuma did.

Now, the shadow-user was sitting around, trying his best not to look overly bored, as they finished their dinner. It had been a few days since their encounter with Zabuza.

"And that's when-" A knock on the door interrupted Tazuna from his story. "Tsunami?"

"Got it Father." The brunette woman stepped back into the room with four other people: a jounin, a pinkette, a raven, and a blonde.

"Sasuke-kun! You came to help us?" Ino pounced on him like a cat on a mouse.

Kakashi glanced around the room and cleared him throat. Looking at Tazuna, he spoke. "You must be Team 10's client Tazuna. My name is Hatake Kakashi, and this is Team 7. We are here to back up Team 10 for the remainder of their mission."

As the jounin spoke with the bridge builder, the genin went around introducing themselves. Naruto came and sat next to Shikamaru.

"Hey. How's it going?"

"Troublesome."

The blond leaned back against the wall. "I feel you." They sat in as much silence as they could muster around the other ninja.

Suddenly, a boy no older than 8 ran into the room. "You can't beat Gato no matter how many people you send! There are no such things as heroes! You people who live in the sun would never understand our pain!"

Naruto's eyes opened to slits. Before anyone had a chance to say anything, he had his hand gripping Inari's collar as the young boy flailed uselessly above the ground. The killing intent permeated the air, causing everyone to freeze. They watched as the silent tears slipped down Inari's cheeks.

**"I don't know who you are, but you are wrong. It seems you aren't aware of what a shinobi is. Shinobi endure. We kill, and we are killed. We watch our enemies get killed by our friends and our friends get killed by our enemies. Every day is enduring that pain and loneliness that makes our hearts want to break."** His voice came out a deep growl.** "Get over yourself. This world is no place for crybabies who are waiting to die."**

The genin carelessly dropped the boy onto the ground. He turned around, ignoring the gaping of the other genin, the strange stares of the jounin, and the astonishment in the client's eyes.

Shikamaru tilted his head slightly as he watched Naruto quickly leave the room. '_What a drag_.' He followed the orange-clad ninja outside and onto the roof. They lay down against the cold tiles.

He had never seen Naruto ever angry before. What intrigued Shikamaru was that his friend made it sound like he had already endured those things before. How was that possible when they had just been made genin a month ago?

Putting his arms behind his head, Naruto looked up to the clear sky. The stars twinkled like diamonds.

The shadow-user gave a passing glance at the blond before looking back towards the night sky. He would have asked how his friend was doing if he wasn't a classic lazy Nara. For all the time he knew him, the Nara couldn't figure out the enigma that was Uzumaki Naruto. But today, he felt like he had seen a part of the in-between, a new side to the blond.

He muttered, "Troublesome."

* * *

The next morning, Team 7 decided to guard Tazuna to give the others a break. When they arrived at the bridge, all of the workers were sprawled on the ground. A thin mist blanketed the area, and a voice began to speak.

"So, they had to get backup huh? Well this will be fun."

Ten identical swordsmen carrying identical giant cleavers surrounded the group of five. Kakashi gave Sasuke a nod, and the raven proceeded to destroy all of the water clones.

"'Copycat' Kakashi. I didn't take you for a coward, hiding behind your genin." Two figures became visible, a tall man with bandages wrapped around the lower half of his face and neck and a short child with a hunter-nin mask.

"…Momochi Zabuza." Asuma had warned Kakashi that the Kiri missing nin might try and attack again soon and that he had an accomplice. He would have never guessed that they would attack on the first day Team 7 had to guard the bridge. Kakashi pulled up the left side of his hitai-ate to reveal the blood red wheel of the Sharingan.

* * *

When Kakashi lifted his hitai-ate, the last thing Sasuke thought he would see was the three-tomoe eye of his clan. _'How did Kakashi get that? Only esteemed members of the Uchiha clan can gain that power.'_

"Wow, aren't I lucky? Showing off your Sharingan so soon?" Zabuza snickered. "Haku, you can play with the kid. I'll take care of the copycat."

The fake hunter nin stepped forward and, with the blink of an eye, was gone. A kunai barely missed Sasuke's neck when the enemy appeared in his peripheral vision.

Haku spoke up. "I wish not to kill you. Please stand down."

Sasuke sneered, "In your dreams. I've been waiting in anticipation to meet an opponent like you." They clashed once again, but this time kunai was on kunai.

"That's too bad. You have already fallen into my trap. From now on, you can only wish to run." His masked opponent began making a one-handed seal. Then thousands of ice senbon rained down.

* * *

Takumi the Taki nin walked through the poor streets of the village. The henge ensured that he would not be recognized by any of the citizens.

He noticed the dilapidated state of the buildings and the overall defeat hanging in the air. Clenching his fists, he wished he could do something to help them.

A slight tug on his sleeve caused him to pull out a kunai. Holding it to the neck of the perpetrator, his eyes widened. The chocolate orbs of a young boy stared back at him. Tears began to spill from the child.

Takumi sheathed the kunai and patted the boy on the shoulder. The boy flinched but did not attempt to run away. He wasn't sure if it was due to fear or something else.

"Sorry about that. How can I help you?"

The boy glanced around before meeting eyes with Takumi. The hesitation in his eyes were clear as day. However, there was another emotion: hope.

"Do you have any food?"

Pity struck the Taki nin's heart. These people were starving. They were suffering. They needed to be helped. He smiled and unsealed a few apples from his pack. They landed carefully into the boy's hands.

Surprise filled the boy's face before he flashed a rewarding grin.

"Thank you, Mister!"

He ran off to a nearby alleyway where Takumi noticed other children were waiting. The boy split the apples, sharing them with the younger ones. A grim smile made its way on Takumi's face.

In different circumstances, could he have been like these children? Would he have been wishing for food and for a home? Would he have been wishing for his pain to end? Would he have been barely clinging to life?

Takumi would help these people. That was one of his jobs after all.

* * *

Naruto was fidgeting. Kakashi had told Sakura and him to stay and protect Tazuna since he was the client, but his instincts told him that the chakra control and kekkei genkai that the fake hunter nin possessed were too dangerous. He wanted to go help Sasuke and ensure he was safe.

There was another concern, however. This body wasn't meant for battle. Boss had created him as a temporary for traveling back to Konoha. Who knew the Hokage would sneakily send him the same way Boss was going?

Either choice that he made he was going to fail someone's expectations.

A high chakra spike chose for him. He darted away from Sakura as he crashed into the dome of ice mirrors which had been formed. Haku was making a pin cushion out of Sasuke.

The mist became thicker thanks to Zabuza, and the masked child was preparing his final attack. Jumping on top of Sasuke, whose joints had locked up from the senbon piercing him, Naruto felt dozens of needles impale his body.

_'This is bad. I'm going to disappear. Kurama… please…'_ His consciousness wavered before completely dissipating.

* * *

**A/N**

**Thank you to all my readers who have been reading, following, and reviewing this story! I may not mention it often, but I appreciate those that read my work, and I make an effort to read every review written. **

**As the year comes to an end, I hope everyone has a happy and safe new year!**

**\- TK**

* * *

Updated: 30/12/19


	8. Possessed

"Talking"

'_Thinking_'

**"Demon Talking"**

**"****_Demon Thinking_****"**

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

**Chapter 8: Possessed**

* * *

Sasuke couldn't believe it. The dobe had interrupted his fight. That Haku gave him a run for his money, but thanks to the enemy, Sasuke had finally unlocked what was rightfully his: the Sharingan. He could see clearly for the first time in his life, but the blond was ruining his chances to test out his new eyes. Then, the dobe had the audacity to protect him. He was an Uchiha. He didn't need anyone to protect him, especially not the dead-last.

"Dobe, this is my fight," he grunted. "Stay out of it."

**"Shut up. You're lucky he's nice enough to save you."**

The raven was ticked to say the least. The blond had the nerve to tell him to shut up. If it was anyone who should shut up, it was the blond with his incessant talking. However, confusion did cross his mind. The dobe had referred to himself in third person. To further confuse him, the dead-last's voice was deeper like the night they had arrived where he had yelled at the annoying child. _'What going on with you dobe?'_

A strong wind snapped him from his thoughts. The mirrors were being melted by the strong red chakra that was enveloping the blond's body. Metal hitting concrete could be heard as the needles in his body were forcefully pushed out. The holes they left were steaming as they healed over without scarring.

Before anyone could say anything, all Sasuke could see was an orange blur. The mirror containing the true Haku shattered as a chakra-enforced punch sent his opponent flying.

The mask splintered and broke off as the face of a young boy not much older than himself was revealed. Haku had a mad bruise forming on his right cheek where Naruto had punched him.

The aura surrounding the blond only grew stronger as he walked up to the other, who was still struggling to stand. Sasuke could only watch as the dobe lifted Haku up with one hand, squeezing his neck tightly until the boy's face was as purple as his bruise. They began speaking, but Sasuke was too far away to hear their words.

* * *

Haku never had a day where he wasn't thankful that Zabuza had found him. He had lost his purpose in life, living off the scraps he could find, even pitiful enough to fight animals for food. But when his eyes met Zabuza's, he vowed to always be at his side, fighting for him and protecting him. However, this was not how he imagined being defeated. It was not to a strong hunter nin or to the dictator Mizukage, but to a mere child whose eyes reflected the malice of men.

**"Such a pure soul. I sense no ill will within you. Tell me child. Why do you fight?"**

"Kill me. I am but a broken tool cast aside. I can no longer be of use to Zabuza-san. I can no longer protect my precious people." He felt like the boy who held him was staring deep into his soul with those blood-red eyes of a demon. There was no reason for him to live any longer. If he could not defeat one or two measly boys younger than himself, he no longer deserved to serve at his master's side.

**"If that is what you wish, I will grant it."**

If you were standing mere inches away, you would have heard the "Thank you" that escaped Haku's lips. A claw hand squeezed until a snap was heard. The hanging corpse was carelessly dropped to the ground.

* * *

Kurama enjoyed entering the minds of his victims. Many displayed harsh fear or quivering madness. However, when he latched onto the chakra of his latest victim, he couldn't help but notice that there was a sense of devotion so strong that it outshined all other emotions.

He could tell that this one didn't want to hurt a fly. This one's soul was as white as snow. He wanted to toy with it like the demon he was, yet there was something that stopped him. This one reminded him of a kind soul he had once known, a soul which had been tainted by the greed and irrationality of humankind.

When he released the neck of the body, he could only feel that this wasn't the way. He would be lying if he said he wasn't trying to find a way to bring the kind soul back. Unfortunately, death seemed not to be the way.

Kurama took a moment to observe how what remained of the pure soul's life sat in a heap on the concrete. He never liked to feast in his prey. His father had taught him that it was bad manners, yet he always entertained the thought of eating humans. Sometimes, a mischievous kitsune had to have fun. Not that he was used to munching on them anyways. The chakra construct had no need for such mortal necessities. But that didn't mean that he had respect for his prey. They were, after all, inferior to him in all ways. The only one he respected was the kit, his Kit.

**_'What could Kit be doing right now?'_**

* * *

Takumi the Taki nin entered the mansion of the wealthiest man in this country. As he walked down the hallways solo, he ignored the glares of the thugs and the screams of the dying women. The air reeked of tabaco, and the whole building was drenched in a foreboding sweat.

The man who ran the place was not currently present. Takumi only had a few minutes until an appointment with said man where all ends of the deal would be complete.

No one dared to stand in his way as he entered his partner's office. If they did, they were dead. He shuffled through all of the bank statements, tax revisions, and more. Sealing away what was valuable, he scanned through the entire room to make sure there were no other hidden safes.

With the last of the information safely tucked in a scroll, he exited the room as smoothly as he had entered. No one alive would have guessed what he had just done.

Smiling internally, Takumi the Taki nin stepped outside the mansion of the wealthiest man in this country for the last time. As he walked away, the silent hallways were no longer filled with stares and glares. Only the glassy orbs of dead corpses were what looked into the darkness. The mouths of silent women had no need to cry and scream any longer. The air reeked of nothing more than sweet death, and the whole building was drenched in the blood of those who had already lost their lives years ago.

Now Takumi had only one last thing before his mission was complete. He strolled down to the docks where an impatient Gato was tapping his foot.

* * *

Kakashi had felt it. The unmistakable chakra of the nine-tailed fox. Why would it show up here of all places? He could not understand who it could have come from.

It was not from Zabuza or his apprentice since Zabuza was as surprised as he was to feel the malicious chakra.

It was not from Tazuna or the workers since they were obviously foreign non-combat civilians who didn't even understand chakra.

It was not from Sakura or Sasuke since he knew their backgrounds would never allow for them having the Kyuubi sealed within them.

That left the only plausible person: Naruto. If no one else had interrupted the fight, the only person who could possibly hold the Kyuubi was Naruto. The blond was an orphan with a questionable past. He also fit the description of a mini-Minato.

There was no doubt in Kakashi's mind now that Naruto was Minato's son, the only one the Yondaime would trust with sealing the Kyuubi into.

The Sandaime would have a lot of explaining to do, but first, he had to finish his battle.

* * *

Asuma was rushing to the bridge. After Gato's thugs had threatened Tsunami, he knew that Team 7 was in trouble. He left his team to protect the family from any more unwanted visitors, and now the bridge finally came into sight. A thick fog hung in the air, and the unconscious bodies of workers were strewn around like dead fish on a beach.

A bright light illuminated the area. He rushed forward to see Kakashi facing Zabuza. The missing nin's arms were uselessly hanging by his side as he was being weighed down by Kakashi's team of ninken.

As the Raikiri grew closer and closer, Zabuza closed his eyes to accept his fate. Kakashi's hand passed through the chest of the Kiri nin, and he breathed his last.

The dogs bowed before undoing the summon. Asuma approached Kakashi as he wavered on his feet. Catching his fellow jounin before he could fall backwards, the black-haired man pulled down the hitai-ate of his counterpart.

Clapping was heard as the mist dissipated. They both snapped their heads in the direction of the sound. Standing at the edge of the bridge was none other than Gato.

"Well what do we have here? Seems the demon isn't so tough after all." Gato's grin was nothing but pleased at the results. He stared down at the cooling body of Zabuza. "I never planned to pay him anyways. At least that's one less problem for you." He turned to the man next to him. "Here's my end of the deal. If you would please?"

Both Konoha jounin recognized the partner immediately. The man standing next to him was a well-known A-rank missing nin from Takigakure: Mizue Takumi.

The Waterfall missing nin grinned maniacally. "With pleasure." He drew his sword without a sound before it passed straight through the short man's torso, barely missing his liver. "Now you have read the terms and conditions. I want you to sign here." The man pulled out a document and a pen.

"You betrayed me!" He clenched his drenched suit as blood splattered on the gray stones below him.

"Like you weren't going to do the same." He twisted the blade a few centimeters. "Now sign. If you do, I'll let you go." The stout man feared for his life, and so he shakily gripped the pen and scribbled his name on the paper.

Takumi brought the page up to eye level and gave an approving look to the signature. Gato stumbled forward as the sword was withdrawn.

"You shouldn't have been so trusting to ninja. We never keep our word. Give my regards to the devil, you backstabbing bastard." With a swift swing of his sword, Gato's head rolled to the floor like a die. After swiping his sword across the corpse's clothes to rid of the crimson liquid as best he could, Takumi pulled out a cloth and began to wipe the blade clean of any last residue.

Asuma took a moment to comprehend what had just occurred.

The man turned towards the two jounin and spoke. "I will not attack you. My business is done. I am but a shadow cast by the flame."

* * *

Sasuke was seething. First the dobe managed to kill the fake hunter nin with one punch when Sasuke could barely scratch him. Then Kakashi killed the other enemy before he had a chance at redemption. Even the tyrant Gato was dead. There was only target left for him to redeem his honor as an Uchiha. He needed proof that he had power.

The raven charged towards the missing nin with a kunai in hand. Kakashi called out for him to stop, but who was his sensei to leave an enemy standing.

Even with his Sharingan activated, he couldn't keep up with the man's speed when he disappeared from sight. A tap at the base of his neck informed him of where the enemy had disappeared to before darkness overcame him.

* * *

The unconscious form of the Uchiha instructed Asuma to pull out his chakra blades. Even if the man claimed he would not attack, they could never be too sure.

"Sheesh Dog. You'd think you'd have your pups under control. Looks like age is catching up to you."

Asuma watched as Kakashi's eyes grew even wider. Turning back to the Taki nin who went back to cleaning his sword, he watched as with a poof of smoke, a masked child replaced him.

"Kodanuki-san."

Questions were running through Asuma's head at breakneck speed, but he was slowly able to piece some of it together. This man – boy – was a Leaf ANBU. That much was obvious from the code he had used earlier. Somehow Kakashi knew who this boy was. Somehow the boy had a mission to eliminate Gato. Somehow Gato was now dead.

"Well it was nice seeing you Dog, but I must be going."

Glancing around, Asuma noticed that all of the corpses had been sealed away. '_When did he?_' Turning back, the young ANBU had disappeared.

Asuma pulled out a smoke. "Who was that Kakashi?"

"An ANBU I teamed up with recently when Hokage-sama needed one more for an A-rank mission." Recalling the chilling events from a few weeks ago, you could plainly see how unsettled Kakashi seemed to be. "That boy scares me. He managed to interrogate an enemy nin in the field and break her in less than an hour."

The cigarette almost fell to the ground. "But that's almost better than Ibiki!"

"I know. That's why he scares me. And that's not all. His kenjutsu is one of the best I've ever seen, and he's a very, _very_ good sensor." He paused to give Asuma some time to soak in the new information. "And… he's only twelve."

That time, the cigarette did fall out.

* * *

**A/N**

**Happy New Year!**

**I've added a Q&A for questions asked in reviews that I feel everyone would want answers for, so check it out!**

**\- TK**

* * *

**Q&A**

**_Is the clone naruto gonna be like "killed"?_ (SrChangeling1)**

**In a way, the clone was killed. However, he didn't disappear because he asked Kurama to sustain his body with chakra. Therefore, Kurama had complete control but limited access to his powers. As you've probably noticed, I'm making Kurama more of an actual kitsune than just a bijuu.**

**_So I'm guessing this Takumi is Kodanuki in disguise?_ (TigrezzTail)**

**I'm happy you noticed! I wanted Kodanuki to do some undercover work, so this was me testing writing things like that. I have more infiltration planned for later. I was seriously hoping someone would point this out since I killed Takumi in chapter 5. **

* * *

Updated: 2/1/20


	9. No Dogs Allowed

"Talking"

'_Thinking_'

**"Demon Talking"**

_Flashback_

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

**Chapter 9: No Dogs Allowed**

* * *

When the Hokage had first given Naruto this mission, he was not very happy. It required so much bloodshed – too much bloodshed – for the boy to want to do it. However, the look of shock on Gato's face definitely made this assignment worthwhile. Besides, he got to do what he loved most: sneaking into people's lives without them having the slightest clue. He had played Gato like a violin, and now the tyrant was dead.

Pocketing the scroll containing the dead bodies of the two missing nin and the businessman, Naruto thought about what he was to do now. He already burnt down the mansion and all evidence that he had ever step foot in it. He couldn't technically cash in the bounty for Zabuza until he returned to the Hidden Leaf. Considering that the Hokage purposely sent his team to his location, he couldn't very well go and ditch them here while he returned by himself. He would have to stay in Wave until whatever backup mission they were sent on gets completed. Now, the only next plausible step was to relieve Kurama before he was driven insane by the silver-haired hound and company.

There was a reason Kodanuki liked to taunt Dog. It was simple really: kitsune have always been known for their intense fear or hate of the other four-legged creatures. Thanks to his tenant, Naruto tended towards the latter and therefore took out his dislike of dogs on the unsuspecting Kakashi. Poor Dog had no clue.

Perhaps he should check up on his friend. Making the mental connection, he tried to reach out to the other.

'_Kurama. Oi, Kurama._'

**"WHAT?"**

'_Oh, good you're alive._'

**"AND WHAT IS THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN?"**

'_Someone's grumpy. Got ants in your pants or something? How about dogs?_'

A grumble was his response. Something along the lines of unbearable canines. Oh, how he loved to pick on Kurama sometimes.

'_I'm coming to switch out with you._'

**"FINALLY! I thought you would never be done." **

'_Aww, did you miss me that much? I know it's lonely when you possess one of my unconscious clones._'

**"SHADDUP. And are you here yet?"**

'_Behind that tree to your left.' _

Currently, Team 7 was escorting Tazuna back to his house since he was worried about his daughter and grandson. Naruto watched as Kurama announced he "really, _really_" needed to take a leak. A blond head poked around before standing next to him. Naruto was actually very impressed. Kurama had covered up any and all signs of possession with a very strong illusion that not even the jinchuuriki could notice. Then again, kitsune were masters of illusion, so perhaps it wasn't that surprising.

'_Wow, that's the best excuse you could come up with?_'

**"SHADDUP!"**

Kurama proceeded to walk behind the tree and dispel himself.

**"Ahh, much better."**

'_I thought you enjoyed your freedom through possession._'

**"Not when I have to spend it with that dirty mutt-lover."**

'_Well suit yourself.'_

Naruto walked back to the road, where Sakura berated him for saying unprofessional things in front of a client. Now who was being unprofessional?

The rest of their time spent in Wave was very uneventful. It took another week for Tazuna to finish the bridge as well as fix any damage the battle may have caused. During then, Teams 7 and 10 trained together – if you could call it training. Naruto and Sasuke finally mastered the tree climbing exercise – well, at least one of them did. The other had known how to do it since he was four. Shikamaru and Chouji were cloud watching most of the time. They were near the water where you could see the clouds for miles without trees to obscure your view. They definitely were not going to pass up a chance like this. Sakura and Ino spent time with Tsunami and bickering with each other, not that their senseis really cared.

Out of everything that occurred during that week, the most eventful thing was that Naruto apologized to Inari.

_"Hey kid."_

_Inari was sitting and staring out at the water. The celebrations had died down, and the night sky made everything seem so peaceful. Naruto walked up and sat down next to the boy, who tensed up immediately. Running a hand through his hair, the blond had to sigh._

_"Look I'm sorry for what I said to you back there. I heard later from your gramps what had happened to your dad."_

_The boy's head turned abruptly and stared at the whiskered face._

_"I understand that you were in a tough situation and all, but remember, you are really fortunate. Even without your dad, you still have your mom and your gramps here with you. They love you and care for you. My parents died not even before the sun rose on my birthday." _

_Inari's eyes grew wide at this statement, but he stayed silent and listened to what Naruto said next._

_"But I had my caretakers who were compassionate to me. Those people are my precious people, and I would do anything to protect them. Yet, even then, some have died on missions. Instead of crying about it, I took up their duties and made them my own. I learned my parents' techniques and fulfilled my caretakers' jobs to honor them. Your dad wouldn't want to see you crying all the time. He would want you to be strong and protect the village just like him. I heard that you stood up for your mom when the bandits came." He ruffled the young boy's hair. "Just remember, you can be strong too ok?" _

_With that, Naruto left Inari to think about his words. Internally, he was smiling. '_I hope that boy realizes how lucky he is. He has a long road ahead of him to help the village return to its prosperous state._'_

All in all, the remainder of the mission was successful, and they returned to Konoha almost an entire month after they had left.

* * *

Like all good shinobi, the first thing Naruto did when he returned was report to his Hokage. Kakashi and Asuma had dismissed the genin, since as team leaders, they were responsible for reporting. Unknown to both of them, Naruto had taken the liberty of leaving a shadow clone, which was stronger just in case something unexpected happened, with them and ran to the village ahead of time to give his report.

Now, he was standing in front of his leader ready to clear up anything before the jounins arrived.

"Hokage-sama, I'm here to report that the elimination of _that_ man was a success. Within this scroll, you will find the _his_ remains along with the Demon of the Hidden Mist, Momochi Zabuza, and his apprentice, Yuki Haku. Here are all the documents legitimately signed by Gato."

Handing over everything, Sarutobi scanned through it and confirmed their authenticity.

"Thank you Kodanuki-kun. It seems you performed exceptionally well. Did you enjoy it?"

Naruto pondered the question for a moment. Did he enjoy the mission? Of course, he hated all of the murder he committed, but he also enjoyed the infiltration side of things. But he also felt like the Hokage's interference by sending his genin team along was very unnecessary. The last confrontation with Kakashi and Asuma was very uncomfortable. That's right. Naruto needed to tell the Hokage about that.

"Despite the copious amounts of bloodshed, I enjoyed being able to do what I was trained to do." The ANBU considered what the chances were that he may not receive a mission like this again.

"Besides that, I have an incident to report." Sarutobi perked up. "I revealed myself to the jounin present for a C-rank escort mission. One of the genin of their team had attacked my disguise, and I had to knock them out. This resulted in breaking my cover to prove that I was truly no harm. One of the jounin, Dog, was present to confirm my identity."

The elder man just gave him that look that screamed 'Was that really necessary?' Naruto himself wasn't sure – okay, he knew that technically codes were enough without reverting to his ANBU form – but it was a good chance to annoy a certain Dog, nonetheless. He was glad that the Hokage didn't comment further.

"Well, what's past is past. Don't let it happen again Kodanuki." Then, there was a gleam of amusement in his eyes. It seems he had also noticed the two men who were approaching his office. "Would you like to stay and listen to their side of it?"

A smile spread beneath the fox mask. "With all due respect, heck yes Hokage-sama." The ANBU melted into the shadows and hid his presence.

There was a knock on the door and the reply of "Enter" before the door swung open and admitted two very tired – or bored – looking jounin. Kakashi and Asuma both bowed before the younger Sarutobi spoke up.

"Hokage-sama, here to report that Team 10 has completed our mission in the Land of Waves." The Sandaime gestured for him to continue. "As I reported in the letter sent, we encountered two rogue Mist chuunin, the Demon Brothers, before discovering that the client had fabricated the mission parameters. My team made the decision to continue on for the sake of Konoha's image-" Naruto almost laughed out loud. "-and decided to call for back up. Then we encountered Momochi Zabuza. For a few days, we spent time at the client's home and protected him while he worked on the bridge. Team 7 arrived soon after and opted to protect the client in our stead as we rested. The day after, Gato's thugs assaulted the client's family. I quickly incapacitated them before arriving at the bridge to assist Team 7."

Kakashi put a hand on his shoulder and took over the story. "After we arrived at the bridge, Zabuza had already assaulted the workers. We then engaged in combat. Both Zabuza and his apprentice were killed in battle. Then Gato appeared on the bridge before also being eliminated. We returned to protecting the client for another week until the bridge was completed and returned to Konoha with no further complications. As for our previous mission, we delivered the supplies to the outpost near the Land of Rivers with no complications. Here is the scroll containing the signature of the stationed leader."

The Hokage steepled his hands and thought for a moment. "How did the genin react to encountering missing nin?"

"Shikamaru, Ino, and Chouji were frightened at first. But as expected, Shikamaru was able to form a plan, and they quickly organized themselves when Zabuza had me trapped in his jutsu. Chouji was able to use his Human Boulder jutsu to destroy the water clones while Ino entered Zabuza's mind to force him to disconnect with his technique. They worked very well together for being under pressure."

"Sasuke, Sakura, and Naruto only encountered Zabuza and his apprentice. Sasuke was excited while Sakura and Naruto were frightened. While I fought with Zabuza, Sasuke was able to go head-to-head with the apprentice until the enemy revealed his ice kekkei genkai. Sasuke underestimated his opponent and was incapacitated. Though I was not there to see, it seems Naruto intervened and… killed the enemy. But afterwards, he seemed completely unfazed by it. It was strange Hokage-sama."

Not commenting any further on Naruto's actions, the elder Sarutobi asked, "And what of Sakura?"

"She protected the client and did not directly engage in combat. To be honest, sir, I do not believe she is fit for battle."

The Sandaime nodded. "Well thank you both for your reports. I hope with this mission complete, you will both consider training your team in skills they lack. Now I heard you encountered one of our operatives." A smirk appeared on his face as Kakashi stiffened.

"Yes sir. He was the one who eliminated Gato."

Nodding again wisely, Hiruzen noticed they did not want to speak further about the topic. "Alright, you are both dismissed."

While Asuma departed, Kakashi lingered for a bit longer.

"Yes Kakashi?"

"Sir, during our battle, I felt the chakra of-" He hesitated for a bit, looking unsure of what he was about to say. "-the Kyuubi. I have deduced the source of the chakra and wanted to consult you about it."

Both the Hokage and Naruto were surprised by Kakashi's statement. Internally, the jinchuuriki was cursing himself and cursing his clone for giving the reins to Kurama. Hiruzen motioned for the jounin to continue. Curiously, he didn't dismiss any other ANBU in the room, not that there were any who didn't already know of Naruto's identity.

"Naruto has the Kyuubi sealed within him, doesn't he? And he is Minato-sensei's son, isn't he?"

"Kakashi." There was a sternness in the Hokage's voice which wasn't present before. "What you have just told me is an SS-rank secret. Nobody is to know of this."

"Yes Hokage-sama. But where have you been keeping him for twelve years?"

"I am not obligated to inform you of anymore. We will not speak of this matter again. Is that clear?"

Naruto's eyebrows rose. The Sandaime was being particularly harsh about this.

"Yes Hokage-sama."

The "dismissed" came out of Sarutobi's mouth with more edge than usual.

After Kakashi departed from the office, Naruto came back out. He gave the elder man a look that practically spoke "what did you do that for?" The Hokage was not obligated to say anything as he prepared to scold the young boy.

* * *

Deep in the deserts of the Land of Wind, a figure looked down at three corpses. Two were elite shinobi while one was clad with white robes and a large hat. The one who wore the hat that bore the symbol for wind had no face. It was completely melted off.

The figure smirked before he transformed himself into the image of the robed body. Everything was set for his plan. Only a month until his former sensei would die at his hands.

* * *

**A/N**

**To those who are sad about Haku's fate, remember Kurama is a demon. He has no obligation to show mercy. **

**\- TK**

* * *

Updated: 6/1/20


	10. Forget the Smart Stuff

"Talking"

'_Thinking_'

**"Demon Talking"**

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

**Chapter 10: ****Forget the Smart Stuff**

* * *

Contrary to popular belief, Naruto was not a chakra sensor. He had something of much better value. Kurama had taught him how to sense the emotions of others. You could suppress your chakra, but it was next to impossible, excluding a certain organization, to suppress your feelings.

Walking through the streets of Konoha, it had only been a few days since the genin had returned from their mission. He had just finished playing ninja with the Konohamaru corps when he felt distress coming from the way he came. Running back and turning the corner, he saw Konohamaru being roughly held by a black-cat-ear-suit teenager with purple makeup – err, war paint. For some reason, Sakura was also in the neighborhood and was standing there yelling at Cat-ears to put down the Hokage's grandson. The fan girl behind cat-ears had a face mixed between unease and annoyance. Naruto would learn later that this whole situation was caused when Konohamaru had bumped into Sakura and called her a hag to her face.

Before anyone could say anything else, Naruto grabbed Cat-ears' wrist, forcing him to drop Konohamaru. The young boy scampered away to his friends.

"Didn't your father ever teach you that bullying younger kids is wrong."

Cat-ears glared back at him. "The squirt ran into me first."

Ignoring the surprised stares of his teammate and children behind him, he scoffed. "That's no excuse. Don't let me catch you again." At this point, he didn't care if his cover was breaking just a bit. Someone had to give Cat-ears a lesson in manners.

Naruto felt Sasuke approach on the tree. Then, a terrible negativity swamped the area. Snapping his head to the tree, he ignored the teme and glared at the branch.

"It's also rude not to introduce yourself."

A red-haired boy no older than he was appeared before using a sand shunshin to move in front of Cat-ears and Fan Girl. The bloodlust rolling off of him was deafening.

"Kankurou, you are a disgrace to our village." The mystery redhead with a large gourd on his back and a red tattoo for love over his left eye didn't even turn around when he addressed his teammate. Redhead just kept eyeing Naruto.

There was something familiar about this boy, but Naruto could not put his finger on it. What was it about Redhead that made him feel… empathetic? Unlike Redhead, the blond did not outwardly seek to kill. What was this familiarity? The killing intent of Redhead was insane.

A yowl answered his questions. **"HE HOLDS SHUKAKU."**

'_Your one-tailed brother?_'

**"Yes." **Kurama sounded furious. **"He is in so much pain. Can't you feel it?"**

Ignoring the layers of insanity surrounding Redhead, Naruto delved deeper until he indeed could feel what his tenant was referring to. There was a large amount of pain emanating from both Redhead and his prisoner.

'_You're right._'

**"Please Naruto, we have to help Shukaku." **Naruto's eyes almost widened. The fox never used his name, let alone ask for a favor. Helping his brother must have meant a lot to Kurama.

'_But we don't even know what's wrong with him or his jinchuuriki._'

**"Then we find out damnit!" **

'_Calm down please. Alright we will help Shukaku. Perhaps it has something to do with his seal. Suna has never been good at fuinjutsu. We'll find an opportunity to look at it. Just be patient alright?_'

That seemed to quell the fox's rage as he stopped incessantly yelling at the blond to save his brother.

While Redhead was threatening to kill Cat-ears, Sasuke had joined the Konoha genin on the ground. If he had been slightly surprised at what Naruto had done, he showed no sign of it. Sakura questioned the three on their intentions in Konoha since they all wore hitai-ate of Suna.

Once Redhead had thoroughly scared his supposed teammates and revealed that they were there for the Chuunin Exams, he turned and looked at Naruto.

"I am Sabaku no Gaara. Who might you be?"

"Uzumaki Naruto."

"You are an intriguing one, Uzumaki. Mother thinks so as well."

With a glare, he turned back around, not noticing that a certain Uchiha and pinkette were peeved that he hadn't asked for any other names. "Let's go." With that, Redhead and the other Suna genin disappeared from the road.

'_Well these Chuunin Exams will be interesting to say the least._'

* * *

Ibiki glared at all the prospective chuunin currently stressing about how they could possibly pass the first test. So far, he was very unimpressed. He had caught fifteen genin in the last ten minutes. Was this really the best they had to offer?

Most of the test takers were resorting to cheating. The Konoha genin were by far the worst at hiding their techniques. The bun girl had attached wire to obvious mirrors attached on the ceiling while the bulges of the eyes of the Hyuuga signified them using their doujutsu. The Inuzuka and Aburame were both using their respective animals as spies to give them answers. The Yamanaka had conspicuously slumped down after possessing the pink-haired girl, who surprisingly answered all the questions without any need to cheat. What a bookworm. Now the Uchiha was copying one of the chuunin with his Sharingan. That was smart and a bit more covert.

Then, there were the genin who just weren't even trying, namely the Nara and the blond brat. When they had walked in, they both had the exact same reaction to being given a written exam: they glared at the paper, considered writing their names, wrote their names, and then promptly fell asleep. Could they not be more obvious that they didn't want to take a test. Too bad he couldn't call them out since they weren't technically breaking any of the rules he had set down.

Now, some of the foreign children were doing much better. He noticed the ones from Suna, who happened to be the Kazekage's children, were taking this test seriously with pretty good stealth. The gourd kid had copied down all of the answers with a sand technique, and the black-suited boy had disguised one of his puppets as an examiner. Suna thinks they're so sneaky with their dolls. That's really cute.

Despite how much he enjoyed frightening people more than half his age, Ibiki would be lying if he said he wasn't bored. Scaring people was literally what he did for a living, and this was just another part of the job. Yet, teenagers were not as fun as full-grown men who ratted out their employers after a mental game or two. The most exciting part was when he had an especially hard one to crack. Spending hours on end coming up with techniques that might break a person was relaxing at times.

The tokubetsu jounin broke out of his thoughts. What was he originally thinking about? Oh right. He was bored. Oh, then why did he break out of his thoughts? He sighed, making some of the test takers in the front row tense up.

'_Oh look! A cheater!_' Now was for his favorite part.

"Number 27, you're done," an examiner announced. Of course, the kid fought back claiming that they had no proof, but they forced him out anyways. The chuunin who kicked his ass had a smug look afterwards.

What Ibiki wouldn't give to be out of this joint right now. He glanced at the clock. There were only five minutes left until he would reveal the tenth question. Twenty more minutes until he could be free to do what he pleased.

A thought wormed its way into his mind. '_That kid would be about their age now._' He started thinking about the seven-year-old ANBU who had all but begged him to teach him everything about torture. '_The little prodigious interrogator would totally be unfazed by this test,_' he mused. The tokubetsu jounin had heard rumors that the boy had improved so tremendously in shattering his victims both physically and mentally that he had broken Ibiki's record of 'Fastest Interrogation on the Field.'

What was the boy doing now? Probably taking some ridiculous S-rank mission out in some obscure foreign land to gather information and maybe even some hostages. Or he might even be hunting missing nin.

Pondering his former pupil's whereabouts would have to wait until later as the five minutes passed.

"Alright! Here comes the tenth question!"

* * *

Naruto stared at Ibiki. While he looked like he was really frightened, inside of his mindscape, he and his tenant were dying of laughter.

**"Oh! I think that kid shit his pants." **

"That one was stuttering so bad when he gave up."

**"That one's contemplating. What do you think he'll choose?"**

"Probably going to bail. See how pale he's turning every time his teammates glance over at him?"

**"Ah, you're right. There he goes." **The fox gave a mocking wave. **"Bye-bye."**

"How many do you think are going to stay?"

**"Hm…" **Of course, Kurama had to pretend to think about it. **"Depends on how well you think your torture mentor did on scaring the wits out of them."**

Now it was Naruto's turn to muse. "Honestly, I don't think he was that bad. He definitely toned down the scary by at least seventy percent. Remember what he did to that poor guy I brought in that one time from Iwa?" A nod was his response. "Now, that was more around eighty percent of his prowess. These genin haven't seen anything worth being scared of."

Kurama snorted. **"Only you would think that Kit." **

"Duh. Because it's true."

**"You think my brother's container is going to bail?"**

"Nah, he's too uptight for that. Plus, he collected all the answers in the last ten minutes of the test. He wants to move on. I wonder why though…"

**"Probably because the pain is making him want to kill things, and the second test is all about killing."**

Naruto snapped his fingers. "Yup, that's definitely it. Remind me to steer my teammates clear of him."

**"Remind me to remind you."**

"Okay. Just remind me to remind you to remind me."

The large fox sighed. **"We are not doing this right now. Anyways, looks like the second examiner just crashed through."**

The blond focused back on the outside world and visibly paled. Only the Hokage would be so cruel as to assign his former subordinate as the next proctor.

Standing in all her sadistic glory was Mitarashi Anko.

It would only be much later when Naruto realized he and Kurama had spent the entire time talking, and he had not done the deliberate act he had planned to slam his hand on the table and yell some smart stuff to annoy Ibiki.

* * *

**A/N**

**I love writing Kurama and Naruto's antics. They always make me laugh. Just putting it out there that the next chapter will be more canon than other chapters have been, but from there on out, things will be slightly changing for better or for worse. **

**Hope you're enjoying the story so far!**

**\- TK**

* * *

**Q&A**

_**For this rendition, you are making the Tailed Beasts actual demons? **_**(SkylerHollow)**

**Soft of. I think them holding abilities from folklore makes things more interesting. However, they still are practically sentient chakra. They just consider themselves demons, and it will be explained a little later why.**

* * *

Updated: 13/1/20


	11. Slippery Snakes

"Talking"

'_Thinking_'

**"Demon Talking"**

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

**Chapter 11: Slippery Snakes**

* * *

Naruto glared at his opponent. His opponent glared back.

Naruto shifted his position a few feet. His opponent shifted his position too.

Naruto prepared a kunai. His opponent-

"BAKA! Stop trying to intimidate the bear. We are in the middle of an exam for crying out loud!" Perhaps Sakura would show some promise of common sense in the future.

Startled by her loud voice, the oversized grizzly ran away – surprising reaction, I know.

"Well there goes our dinner," muttered the blond.

They had not even been in the Forest of Death for a day, and he was convinced that they were somehow going to die of starvation before they died of any of the traps or other teams in the forest.

Nothing seemed to be more alarming about the forest than the fact that his team carried no surplus of survival supplies with them. What did they expect the Chuunin Exams were going to be? A picnic in the park? How did they expect to survive five days in the forest along with fighting other teams for scrolls? Sometimes Naruto wished that he wasn't five years deep into this mission.

A large wind blew through the clearing they were standing in. It flung Naruto away from his teammates and into the mouth of a very hungry looking snake.

'_Well shit._' The blond had to get back to his team right away.

**"How did that wind even blow you away? You're totally stronger than that."**

'_Kurama, this isn't the time_.'

**"Seriously though. You could have stuck to the ground with chakra or something. Why'd you go and get yourself blown away?"**

Naruto would never admit to the fox that he had been a bit distracted with mentally berating his teammates to pay attention to the very large malevolent feeling coming towards them at breakneck speeds. Even ANBU made mistakes. Besides, he was supposed to be undercover as a weak genin.

Staring at the walls of the esophagus he inhabited, he questioned how he would get out.

**"Why don't you just fry this slimy thing already and go help the Uchiha and the banshee before the snake gets to them too."**

For once, Naruto decided he would listen to his furry friend. He spread out his hands on the slippery walls and lit them with a bit of kitsune-bi. Soon, the entire length of the snake was burning, and he was able to easily slice his way out of the carcass.

Running back to where he sensed the other genin, he felt another presence appear. It seemed another snake was in the clearing, and said snake was diving straight for Sasuke.

Pumping some demonic chakra into his legs to propel himself faster than normal, he stopped the reptile mere feet from where the Uchiha stood frozen. Digging his heels into the ground and his kunai into the scales of the snake, he gave a glare to Sasuke. Feeling something wrap around his waist, he came eye to eye with the Kusa nin who had supposedly attacked them. His eyes widened as he noticed the other genin creating a five-pronged seal. How had he noticed the miniscule amount of Kurama's chakra?

Should he fight back? The Hokage had explicitly warned him not to use more than chuunin-level strength during the exams for fear of his cover being blown. However, this opponent seemed way stronger than a genin. What to do? _What to do_? When did he become so wishy-washy? Wait. Giant snakes and weird snake like smells could only mean one certain S-rank missing nin: Orochimaru. His realization was a bit late – correction – it was way too late.

The last thing he heard was a mutter from his tenant. **"Idiot."**

* * *

When the wind had blown through, Sasuke and Sakura were pushed into the brush. The Uchiha was able to ascertain the pinkette's identity, but the Naruto that waltzed over to them was obviously a fake. Then the fake revealed himself to be a Kusa nin who swamped the area in so much killing intent that it brought images of death to his mind. There was nothing Sasuke could do but stab himself to make the fear go away.

Hiding away with Sakura, the pinkette wanted to show her concern, but he shut her up quickly. This man was strong – too strong. What were they going to do? He hadn't felt this overwhelmed with fear since that night five years ago, and he didn't want to even think of that again.

A snake attacked them, but Sasuke was able to dodge its lunges. Thank goodness for the hours of training he had put into improving his midair flexibility. Grabbing a few shuriken from his pouch, he threw them at the human-sized snake and pinned it to a tree.

The next event would continue to gross him out for days to come. The reptile's body split open, and the Kusa nin rose out of the slimy carcass. What in the world was he – or was it a she? He didn't have time to think about those things as another snake was summoned, except it was a hundred times bigger.

There was no way that he would be able to escape it with its eyes fixed on him like a predator's. He was ready to accept his fate when the dobe came flying in from nowhere and stopped the massive reptile in its tracks. Why? _Why?_ Why was he so weak that he needed the dobe to save him yet again? First, he had saved Sasuke in the Land of Waves and now this. Why was he so weak that he had frozen up, just like that night? No, he couldn't think of that night. Why was he so weak that he actually considered forfeiting to the Kusa nin?

Sasuke couldn't move as he watched Naruto be picked up with… a tongue?! Then the creepy Kusa nin stabbed the dobe with his fingers and threw him away. The only thing that stopped the blond's body from falling was Sakura's kunai which embedded itself in a nearby tree.

"SASUKE-KUN! Naruto might be a baka who's only holding us back, but he's no _coward_! RIGHT? Please get yourself together."

_Coward_. That word was the word he hated most. He was so weak. Itachi said he was weak. He was weak in front of him and now in front of this Kusa nin.

"NO!"

His Sharingan blazed to life with two tomoe in both eyes. Grabbing kunai in his right hand and a fuma shuriken in his left, he began to attack the enemy.

He had always cared about killing his brother. There was nothing that was more important to him than that, and he was always the most important thing when it came to getting stronger. However, perhaps he was going at it the wrong way. If he froze up at the sight of the enemy, he would never stand a chance against _that_ man.

The weapons were thrown at the creep, but he dodged them all with unseen speed – well, it would be unseen if Sasuke did not have his eyes.

His next move was sure to catch the creep off guard. Weapons with wire zipped past the Kusa nin before Sasuke set them on fire with a Katon. A direct hit!

The creep couldn't have been any more disturbing until his face melted off to reveal an even creepier face. A hand passed over his hitai-ate, revealing the musical note of Oto.

"To have control over the Sharingan at your age, you are worthy of being the heir to the Uchiha. I can see it in your eyes. You really are Itachi's brother, aren't you?"

Sasuke couldn't move. Why couldn't he move? And why did the creep know about his aniki?

"Just who the hell are you?"

"I am Orochimaru, the Great Snake."

* * *

Sakura was frozen. Somehow the snake man had paralyzed both her and her Sasuke, and they were subject to his mercy.

The snake man was talking about something that she couldn't understand. He said that they'll see him… _again_?

"What do you mean? We never want to see you face again!"

"Maybe not, but that won't keep me away." Creating a weird hand sign, the snake man's neck extended straight towards them. Closer and closer he came until his face was right next to her Sasuke's.

That snake man… _that snake man_ bit her Sasuke. He gave him a hickey. Only Sakura should be able to have that pleasure. Wait, what was she thinking? That snake man did something to her Sasuke.

"Sasuke-kun, you will most definitely acknowledge me. You will acknowledge my power."

Her Sasuke bent down in pain, grabbing the hickey spot. "What? Everything suddenly hurts!"

What had that snake man done to her Sasuke? She whipped around as fast as she could to see that snake man sinking into the ground.

"WHAT DID YOU DO TO SASUKE-KUN?" She blocked out the yelps of pain coming from her Sasuke as she stared daggers at the snake man.

"I only gave him a present…" His head was almost completely submerged.

A scream snapped her out of her anger. Her Sasuke fell to his knees, and she could only fall down with him and yell his name hoping that he was going to be alright.

What was she supposed to do? At some point, her Sasuke was in so much pain that she had to grab his hand and give him a reassuring squeeze. That didn't go unnoticed as he began to squeeze back until her hand was as white as a sheet.

Tears began to leak from Sakura's eyes. What was she supposed to do? Her Sasuke was in so much pain, a weird three-tomoe pattern appearing as the hickey bruise. Naruto wasn't faring much better. He was still hanging unconscious from the tree she had pinned him to.

Both of her teammates were out of commission, and here she was, crying her eyes out. '_But what can I do?_'

Sakura was weak. Naruto and her Sasuke were always protecting her, both in Wave and now.

'_NO. No more._' Even her inner-Sakura agreed. They would not tolerate being weak any longer. She was going to get stronger in order to protect her Sasuke from ever feeling pain like he did now. She would even abandon her fangirl complex if it meant she would never have to watch others cover for her weak ass again.

The first step was to get both of her teammates to safety.

* * *

Kabuto shivered. There were several possible reasons that he could have such a reaction.

One was that he was cold. The arena was large and there weren't many people present. Perhaps there was even a draft blowing in the chilling wind from Forest of Death. However, he was circulating chakra to make sure his body temperature didn't fall. He was a medic after all.

Another was that he was nervous. Orochimaru-sama was staring him down, silently informing him to drop out of the exams for the seventh time. However, he was never anxious around his lord.

Then again, he had felt this chill before. The first time was when he had encountered the brats that Orochimaru-sama was interested in, and the second time was when he was reporting to Orochimaru-sama after successfully passing the second test.

This was no ordinary shudder. He could feel that something was wrong. Nothing seemed wrong with his chakra. Nothing seemed wrong with Orochimaru-sama. Nothing seemed wrong at all.

If that was so, what was this foreboding feeling that he was being watched?

* * *

**A/N**

**Well I'm glad that's over with. This was probably the most canon chapter that I've written for this story. I don't know what spirits compelled me to write this, but if there's any scene I want to show from the Forest of Death, it's this one.  
**

**Now we are getting to the fun stuff. I am super excited. Hope you are too!**

**\- TK**

* * *

Updated: 20/1/20


	12. To Be Cursed or Not to Be Cursed

"Talking"

'_Thinking_'

**"Demon Talking"**

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

**Chapter 12: To Be Cursed or Not to Be Cursed**

* * *

Anko was not having a good day.

First, the chuunin told her that they found the dead bodies of three of her examinees with their faces wiped clean off. This caused a frenzy, and she had to order ANBU to be sent into the Second Exam because that slimy bastard of a sensei was obviously at fault.

Then she encountered said bastard and planned on taking him with her to hell. But instead, it turned out she was going to die alone with a mud clone and that he was already long gone. Not to mention, he tried to activate her cursed seal which made her want to sock him in the balls. Luckily, she had it removed years ago.

Now, she had to discuss security plans with the Hokage. Let it be known to all that Anko hated meetings. The only consolation she had was that there were only four hours left until the Second Test was over and that she would probably get to watch genin beat the crap out of each other in a preliminary round.

Regardless, when the annoying orange gaki from the test slammed open the door to the office which she was sure was guarded by ANBU, she just stared like a goldfish. "What the hell?" The gaki strolled up to her and swiftly karate chopped her on the forehead. "Again, what the hell?" She was having a hell of a day, and the gaki wasn't helping one bit. Now she was pissed.

"That should be my line! You faced the snake by yourself?! WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?"

Now Anko was just confused. The orange gaki was yelling at her. Why was the orange gaki yelling at her? Who did the orange gaki think he was? She was his proctor for goodness' sakes. This exceeded all known instances of insubordination. She was about to yell back at him but noticed when another person spoke up. It was the Hokage.

Sarutobi cleared his throat. "Naruto-kun, you can't do that to your proctor."

Naruto never broke his glare but responded to the Hokage. "Hokage-sama, perhaps not to my proctor, but surely to my stupid subordinate? I heard from the guards what happened."

Anko looked between the Sandaime and the now identified Naruto a few times. The Sandaime was looking quite irked, though she couldn't fathom why. Then the name registered in her mind. Staring back at those furious cerulean eyes, it hit her. "Taichou?"

"Yes damnit. Now you didn't answer my question. What were you thinking?"

At this point, Anko had completely forgotten about the pain-in-the-ass meeting she was currently in. She didn't even give a second thought to the question.

She was still trying to figure out how in the world the annoying orange gaki was her former taichou. They didn't even look the same. Or did they? Now that she was paying attention instead of just antagonizing him, he had the same face structure and whisker marks. There was only one person she knew with those, and it was Taichou.

"Naru-taichou!" The shock in her voice was evident.

"You're going to blow my cover… not that it's not already blown," the blond muttered.

Grumbling to himself, the Hokage also managed to say something along the lines of "He's breaking all protocol."

Naruto turned to Sarutobi. "Hokage-sama, Team 7 encountered Orochimaru within the forest. He had sent a snake summons to attack me while he fought my teammates. I was able to defeat the snake, but I used a bit of demonic chakra which resulted in Orochimaru overlaying my seal with a five-prong seal and rendering me unconscious. However, I did not recognize him until after everything I told you of occurred."

The Hokage gave him this quizzical stare which seemed to say, "Are you an idiot for not noticing he was Orochimaru?"

"Rest assured Hokage-sama, I do realize the error in not identifying Orochimaru earlier. Also, the fox reminds me every day that I am, in fact, an idiot."

Another glare from the elder man was his response.

"Which reminds me, I probably should unseal him now." He formed the five points of chakra required for the unsealing in his right hand. "The quiet was nice while it lasted." He lifted his many layers of clothing, exposing the bare skin of his abdomen with his left hand. Thrusting his right hand into his stomach, he resisted keeling over as the five-pronged seal disappeared from view.

After that whole ordeal, he stood straight though there was a wince on his face. "The fox would like me to inform you that he is disappointed in the lax level of security Konoha was under when foreign humans were blatantly allowed in." A bigger wince appeared. "He also is unsatisfied with the lack of backup in dealing with the snake."

Anko took this chance to pipe up. "Wait, the fox knew Orochimaru was in the forest and didn't say a thing?"

A tick-mark appeared on Naruto's forehead. Grinding his teeth, he said, "Apparently so. I'm going to have to have a conversation with him about sharing information, but that will have to wait until later. There is another matter I must inform you of. The Uchiha received a curse mark from Orochimaru. Please allow me to leave a kage bunshin in my place and remove the mark."

Both Anko and Sarutobi were shocked. They had hypothesized that Orochimaru was after Sasuke, but now their suspicions were confirmed.

"Yes, you have my permission."

Naruto bowed deeply. "Thank you Hokage-sama. If you would please excuse me." The blond left the room much more properly than he had come in.

The kunoichi turned and looked at the Hokage. Her expression was that of a very perplexed child.

"With all due respect, what the hell?"

* * *

Naruto observed Sasuke attack the other Konoha genin. It wouldn't be long until he would be able to look at that curse mark. Sasuke had been insistent on fighting instead of having it looked at right away. What a fool.

From his most recent conversation with Kurama, he found out some other interesting things even though he was already incredulous.

One of those happened to be the genin Kabuto. Naruto already had suspicions from seeing those ninja info cards that contained fairly protected information. No genin should have access to intel like that. Although he was hiding it rather well, the silver-haired boy also radiated a bit of malice and smelt somewhat of snakes. Those were both concerning. Naruto knew he had to keep an eye on that one.

Another was that the snake was currently in the room observing the matches. He couldn't glance over at the Oto jounin, for that would be too obvious, but he kept his senses open. There was a hunger radiating off of the snake every time Sasuke did something that either a) gave his foe the upper hand or b) activated the curse mark.

Using one of the green-clad bushy brows' moves, Sasuke finished off his opponent. The curse mark had almost taken full effect at one point, but it seemed that the Uchiha's will was stronger.

Naruto watched as Kakashi led Sasuke out of the arena. '_That's my cue. Kurama, please let Boss know._'

**"Already on it."**

The fox informed the real Naruto who was currently waiting in the basement.

_'Kurama, if the match starts before I'm back, you get to have some fun_.'

Even if he couldn't see it, he could feel the grin spreading on the great kitsune's face. **"Kit, you better be late then."**

With his kitsune mask on and seals activated, he observed Kakashi and Sasuke enter.

* * *

Sasuke followed Kakashi down the stairs and into a dim lit area. There wasn't really anything interesting except the support pillars that sprouted up into the darkness of the ceiling.

The two ninja watched as an ANBU stepped forward and unsealed a scroll and pen. He looked like any other ANBU except for the fact that he was shorter than Sasuke. He would never admit that the fox mask with its deep purple stripes was a bit intimidating to look at.

"Dog." As said person looked forward, he suddenly widened his eyes. "Please allow me to inspect that seal beforehand."

Sasuke growled, "Kakashi? Who is that?" He would have said more if Kakashi hadn't stopped him.

"Kodanuki-san, I didn't realize you were in the area. It would be a tremendous help if you were to assist us." At this point, Sasuke was stunned that there was someone that Kakashi actually respected. "You can trust him Sasuke. Let him take a look."

Without saying anything, the ANBU motioned for Sasuke to sit and began tapping the seal with chakra. Although the raven couldn't see it, a large chakra array hovered above his shoulder.

"Interesting," the ANBU murmured while taking some notes. "Now how did he manage that?" A few more scribbles were heard.

Sasuke couldn't sit still much more. He hissed as the ANBU's fingers touched his skin again.

He bet that Kakashi wasn't faring much better. The note-taking silence was driving both insane. The raven heard Kakashi speak up. "Kodanuki-san, I was considering using the Fuuja Houin. What do you think?"

"No that won't do. We should just remove it."

Sasuke perked up. The mark could be removed. The mark that made him feel tainted, the mark that made him feel evil, could be removed.

The silver-haired main sounded stunned. "Is that even possible? There isn't any known method to remove a cursed seal..."

"Oh, don't worry. The main component is a part of the snake's soul. If we can draw that out, then the rest should be easily removed. Luckily, the snake hasn't developed the seal much in the past twelve years."

After being asked to, Sasuke removed his shirt and felt the application of ink that traveled from his shoulder and down his body on all sides.

"This should do the trick. Kai!"

A searing pain spread from his shoulder. It felt like needles were stabbing him while also being ripped out. Something was on his shoulder, but he dared not to look. A cold hand was grabbing so hard that it could tear away his soul.

When it finally subsided, he collapsed into darkness.

* * *

Naruto removed his hand from Sasuke's shoulder. '_He's made it harder to extract his soul. Thankfully, my seals have also improved._'

"WHAT DID YOU DO?" asked a voice belonging neither to Naruto nor Kakashi.

Both turned their heads towards the darkness to see a man walk into the light. He looked a bit worse for wear and also very ticked off.

"Chikan-chan, nice to see you too. Though, now that I think about it, I don't think we've formally met." Naruto stood up and put himself between Orochimaru and Sasuke's downed body.

Orochimaru tried his best to seem unfazed. Naruto thought to himself, '_Interesting. It seems sealing away his soul has an adverse effect on the rest of him._'

The snake's eyes flitted between Kakashi and Naruto severally times before settling on Kakashi. "It seems you've grown up Kakashi."

"Orochimaru." Kakashi settled into a fighting stance.

The dull, yellow eyes turned back to the young ANBU. "Perhaps I miscalculated. You are a much finer specimen."

Naruto snorted. "In your dreams Chikan-chan. I would suggest you leave before someone gets hurt." He placed his hands loosely on his head, but he was actually prepared to draw his sword with less than a moment's notice. He was releasing enough killing intent to drown the whole village.

"Foxy-kun, you can't keep me from Sasuke-kun. The Sharingan will be mine. I will be back." The snake turned around and disappeared into the darkness.

'_Follow him. If anything happens, inform Kurama._' The jinchuuriki created a clone which transformed into a rat. It scurried off after the snake.

He finally let out a sigh. "That was way too close for comfort. Dog, take care of your pup." Naruto left, intent on informing the Hokage of Orochimaru's presence.

* * *

**A/N**

**Chikan = molester. I thought the nickname suited the snake quite nicely. **

**\- TK**

* * *

Updated: 27/1/20


	13. Who Let the Fox Out?

"Talking"

'_Thinking_'

**"Demon Talking"**

**"****_Demon Thinking_****"**

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

**Chapter 13: Who Let the Fox Out?**

* * *

Kurama's thoughts wandered everywhere from the vulgar snake people to the smelly mutts. His Kit had just gone off to help the Uchiha. Why _his_ Kit wanted to help an Uchiha of all people, though, was completely beyond him.

Kit's clone suddenly swelled with nervousness as his name appeared on the electronic board. Why was he nervous?

_Uzumaki Naruto vs. Inuzuka Kiba_

The mutt was howling in excitement along with the pup. Kit faced it with all the gusto he could muster for the act.

"Kurama, I know Boss promised you some fun, so he's all yours. Just don't do anything stupid, or I'll have to stop you." Oh, it's cute that Kit was nervous because he thought Kurama would do something stupid.

He couldn't help but grin. His chakra swelled up and fully possessed Kit's clone. Eyes flashed red for a moment before he layered a thick illusion over his body to cover any possession features. It wouldn't be good if they were found out after all.

**"I'm going to beat you up big-time mutt."**

"WHAT WAS THAT?"

The proctor jumped out of the way as it said, "Begin!"

"You'll pay for calling me a mutt, loser. Gijuu Ninpou: Shikyaku no Jutsu!" The mutt had chakra steaming from it as it dropped onto all fours like the hound it was.

Kurama stood his ground as the mutt rushed forward for an attack. It aimed its elbow towards Kurama's gut, but the demon was able to catch it.

A well-aimed knee found its way into the mutt's chest before sending it flying through the air.

"Kurama! I'm supposed to be weak. I'm taking back control if you won't behave. Boss is only letting you do this because he felt bad for leaving you with Dog that one time."

The demon mentally snorted, but listening to Kit distracted him long enough for the mutt and its pup to land a good punch or two on him.

The millennium-old demon, the child, and the puppy danced dangerously around the arena: each was looking for an opportunity to strike.

**'_Oh, how I detest hounds._'** Kurama could not recall a time when he felt inclined to not hate a dog. They were smelly, stupid, and sickeningly loyal to human pests. To make matters worse, humans that adored dogs also ended up the exact same. Thankfully, Kurama was not a kitsune who feared dogs. Thinking that he might have ended up like his canine-fearing kin made him sick to his stomach. Beating the two in front of him today to a pulp would make his day and, probably, his next century.

Suddenly, the mutt threw a smoke bomb, and the arena was shrouded in a black haze. This was the time to strike. Kurama used his exceptionally excellent nose to locate both the mutt and its pup. He was not afraid at all to destroy the ones that he loathed so much. Dodging out of the way when the pup thought it could bite him, Kurama roughly kicked it. Then, he sidestepped an attack from the mutt.

When the smoke finally cleared, what looked to be a small pup ran towards the mutt, who cheered. However, it didn't last long as Kurama revealed himself to be transformed into the pup, slamming his body full force into that of the mutt.

Flying away from him, the mutt landed roughly next to its pup. It glared at Kurama before noticing its pup's state. Pulling out a small pouch, the mutt threw something at it, causing the pup's fur to grow a bristling red.

Both growled at Kurama. "Gijin Ninpou: Juujin Bunshin!"

The pup transformed itself into a clone of the mutt before both pounced again at Kurama.

* * *

The Sandaime Hokage couldn't help but sigh to himself. What was he going to do with the boy?

When spoken to, Naruto seemed like a perfectly respectful subordinate. However, every other action of his only spoke of trouble.

If Naruto wanted to see someone in Sarutobi's office, he would walk right in and start talking to them. This was evident when he barged into the office earlier that day to berate Anko for her actions.

If Naruto wanted to go against the rules, he went against them most likely without hesitation. This was evident when Anko was aware of his identity. Sarutobi was certain that Soutaichou had explicitly created a rule that no ANBU's identity would be compromised, even to teammates. It was concerning that the boy was sharing his name with people he worked with. Then again, he hadn't worked with Anko in five years, so the probability that he shared his name after _that _event is low.

If Naruto wanted to share the world with the fox, he let the fox have some control. This was evident when a spike of demonic chakra occurred before the match began. Why the boy trusted the fox as much as he did Sarutobi would never understand. It was obvious that the fox had control since it always had a very different taijutsu style than Naruto.

Naruto might be one of the most effective ANBU the Hokage had, but he definitely wasn't the absolute brightest. He had many idiotic moments such as this.

Sarutobi would have to scold the boy after the fights were over. Other than the blatant insubordination towards ANBU Soutaichou and himself, this type of carelessness was going to compromise his identity and possibly get him removed from his long-standing mission.

Watching as the fox begin to be pummeled by the Inuzuka's gatsuuga was interesting to say the least. Was there a reason that it wasn't fighting back? It had been doing very well before Akamaru had been given a soldier pill.

_'Speak of the devil._' A presence made itself known to him. Though he didn't turn his head, he knew there was an ANBU wearing a cloak to hide his identity. Seems like he would get some of his questions answered from the boy he was just thinking of.

He was handed a sealed note which he discretely opened and read. Sarutobi had to contain himself, resisting the urge to widen his eyes or turn his head to stare at the Oto jounin. This was very concerning indeed.

There were people he would need to talk to after the matches were over. Internally sighing, the Hokage realized he would need to recall a certain student of his to consult the spies. Like a Nara, he thought that particular Sannin could be a real bother.

An inconspicuous Katon burned away all evidence of the knowledge he gained.

* * *

Kakashi felt it again. That small spike in chakra definitely belonged to the nine-tailed fox. Why was Naruto using it in a fight, especially against a former classmate?

The jounin could not begin to comprehend what it meant. Did Naruto have no control over the fox? Did Naruto hate his classmates that much? Did Naruto have control of the fox's power?

As fast as it appeared, the chakra disappeared before he watched his student's movements. They were different than how Naruto usually fought. The blond's movements were always sloppy and overpowered. Now, his movements were precise and balanced.

Perhaps the fox did overtake Naruto's body. It would explain the sudden change in taijutsu style. The question that still needed to be answered was why. Kakashi racked at his brain as he watched the fight progress.

Glancing around at the others, none of them seemed to notice anything different. If the fox wasn't concerning, the most surprising thing would be seeing Sakura cheering Naruto on. Maybe it wasn't that surprising, but the pinkette did tend to hurt the blond more than help him.

The jounins did not seem on edge at all. When he looked over to the Hokage, the elder man wore a neutral face that did not display any worries at all.

Suddenly, Kakashi saw a dark flash. It was very subtle, but definitely there. Someone had appeared, handed the Hokage an item, and disappeared in less than a second. The cyclops cursed. If he had used his Sharingan to observe the match, he might have seen who had appeared.

Obviously, they weren't a threat as the Hokage seemed unfazed; however, his expression was a bit darker than before.

Kakashi hoped that everything was alright. He was still a bit unnerved by the snake Sannin's appearance earlier, and he didn't want anymore trouble for Konoha. If the message given to the Hokage was urgent, the jounin was sure the Hokage would have left to attend the matter. Perhaps he was worrying for nothing.

Turning his attention back to his student's fight, he watched as the Inuzuka began using a drill-like technique. Despite the want to focus on his sensei's son, he couldn't shake the unsettling feeling that something bad was going to happen soon.

* * *

Kurama had been doing just fine. The mutt was getting what it deserved. That all changed when Kit was done with whatever it was that he was doing for the Uchiha.

"Kurama, I need you to listen to me."

**'_WHAT? I'm trying to show this little hound who's boss, so you better make it quick._'**

"I need you to lose."

**'_I don't think I heard you right. Repeat?_'**

"Boss needs you to lose the fight. It's _important_."

**'_I AM NOT LETTING THIS NO-GOOD MUTT DEFEAT ME IN BATTLE._'**

"Boss has his reasons. Please?"

**'_NO._'**

"Fine. I guess I'll just have to do this the hard way."

The demon felt that he was losing his grip on the body. Darn Kit was forcefully sending chakra through and regaining control. Why couldn't he just let Kurama win? It was humiliating to lose to a mutt of all creatures.

There was nothing he could do, however. Since Kit was the one who he respected the most, Kurama guessed that he would have to withstand one loss for the little rascal. Whatever mischievous deeds Kit was thinking to make it up to him better be worth it.

Relinquishing whatever was left of his hold on the body's consciousness, Kurama allowed the kit to regain command. He ground his teeth as the drill attack hit their body head-on. Luckily, Kurama was still running his chakra through the clone, or it would have already burst.

Kit fell to the ground and the proctor announced the mutt as the winner. Medics rushed to the scene, putting Kit on a stretcher and carrying him out. Kurama thought he heard the sounds of the banshee screaming about how the kit could've totally beat the mutt. Silently, he hoped not to see the banshee again.

That day, Kurama did not make his day by beating up a mutt and its pup. Kit better make his century with something better by tenfold, or the demon would not restrain himself next time.

* * *

Updated: 16/3/20


	14. The Godfather

"Talking"

'_Thinking_'

**"Demon Talking"**

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

**Chapter 14: The Godfather**

* * *

In all his ANBU glory, Naruto glared at the Hokage although the elder man most likely couldn't see his eyes in the darkness of his mask. The brunet wasn't upset with the Hokage. It was quite the opposite actually. He was so pleased with what the Hokage had said that it was upsetting.

"Pardon me Hokage-sama, but I could have sworn you said, 'relieved of all present assignments.'"

The Sandaime showed no signs that he had misspoken. His calm face was starting to disturb Naruto in more ways than one.

"Correct. I am excusing you from your long-term mission. I'd rather have as many ANBU as possible working full-time."

This had worked out better than the brunet had hoped. From the moment he sent that clone after the snake, he was hoping for an opportunity to tail the traitor himself. Now that the Hokage was willingly allowing him more freedom to work, he could start doing the more important things. However, it was bothering him how the Hokage had known exactly what it was that the brunet wanted. What was his reasons for granting such a privilege? Naruto understood that Sasuke was currently out of the snake's grasp and finding out what exactly the snake wanted was very important, yet he couldn't shake the feeling that it was something else.

"Understood. If I may speak freely?"

"Go ahead."

"Why? Isn't watching and judging Sasuke from the inside something you want? Is it because he's proven to be a dependable shinobi? Trust me, he isn't that dependable."

"You have it backwards." The Hokage chuckled. "I don't believe you have been showing me that you can be a dependable shinobi."

"Huh?" Naruto had heard some weird things lately, but this was by far the most surprising.

"Barging into my office, revealing your identity, and giving control to the fox are just some of your current offenses. I have never encountered such idiotic insubordination."

"That's why you're 'relieving' me of my duties?!" The brunet was tempted to smack himself on the forehead a few times. He mumbled, "I know I'm an idiot Hokage-sama. You don't have to rub it in."

"Perhaps your upbringing has caused you to be too lax. You have been involved with this your whole life after all." The Hokage sighed and puffed on his pipe. "Might I add, you've been very outspoken lately."

What was that supposed to mean? Damn loudmouth genin persona must be affecting his interactions with the Hokage. Now he was starting to act like a carefree kid around authority. Damnit.

"Everything I have just mentioned is not the true reason however." Something reminiscent of a smirk appeared on the elder man's face.

"HUH?" Currently Naruto's thoughts were swimming chaotically in his mind, and his leader was not helping one bit. It was tempting to yell at the other to wipe the smirk off his face, but that would just be proving his 'outspoken' point. Better to just keep his mouth shut.

"You are the best we have, and after what you informed me of, I am in need of your skills with _him_."

The unspoken man was obviously the snake that has been plaguing the village recently. Straightening himself up and switching back to the professionalism he was trained in, Naruto addressed his leader once again.

"Sir, I had full intention of doing so whether ordered to or not."

The Hokage smiled. "I am glad I can depend on you to put the village's priorities above what you feel are your own duties."

Naruto quashed the temptation to face-fault. The Hokage seriously believed that he viewed his prior long-term mission as a personal duty? Wait, perhaps the elder man wasn't wrong. Well, it didn't matter much anyways. The brunet had some snake hunting to do.

A crash sounded from outside the window. Both occupants of the room turned their heads to see the image of a man holding a very red face. The Hokage stood and slid open the window.

The man that climbed through was very tall, only some centimeters short of two meters. His spiky, white locks cascaded down his back as he adjusted his red haori, which he wore over a green outfit. Naruto couldn't help but think that the man, Jiraiya of the Sannin, had the most impeccable timing.

"Sensei, long time no see!"

'_So, this is my godfather?_' Naruto was not impressed at all. From what he heard of the man, he was a formidable shinobi, yet in lieu of all his prior opinions, Naruto could only think that this man was a bit too carefree for his liking. Perhaps the man was different in battle.

The Hokage proceeded to clear his throat before addressing the man. "Jiraiya, I do have a door, and I'd prefer that you'd use it."

"Nah, I'll stick to the window. Makes for a better entrance." The Sannin's eyes roamed around the room before locking onto Naruto. "Who's the brat pretending to be an ANBU?"

Naruto was not all too pleased with that comment. '_Who does he think he is calling me a brat? Just because I'm small does not immediately make me a brat. And how dare he claim that I'm only pretending to be an ANBU! I've been doing this my whole life!_' The next thing he knew, he could have sworn Kurama laughed at him. '_Shut it!_'

"This is Kodanuki, one of my operatives in Information and Espionage."

"Wait, the brat is an actual ANBU?" The skeptical look on the man's face was as clear as day. The brunet decided that it was time to speak up.

"I assure you, Jiraiya-sama, that I am an ANBU and have been for over six years." Gawking for a bit, the older man did nothing more than scrutinize the boy. "Hokage-sama, could we please continue with the briefing?"

That seemed to snap the Hokage out of whatever daze he may have been in. "Yes. Jiraiya, you can stay as this pertains to you." Said man nodded before seating himself on the windowsill.

"I'd like access to all information we have gathered about Sound and Sand," Kodanuki stated.

"Sand you say?"

"Yes Hokage-sama, when I encountered _him_, _he _faintly smelt suspiciously of the desert air."

As the Hokage was taking in the new information, Kodanuki noticed Jiraiya puzzling, probably about how the desert could smell when it was practically comprised of sand.

Sarutobi then turned towards Jiraiya. "Has your spy network gotten any recent information from either of those villages?"

The 180 of Jiraiya's attitude put a damper on the mood. "I haven't heard anything from Sand, but there's barely any info on Sound. I haven't even located it."

Kodanuki was bewildered. This was supposed to be the super pervert spy master who had plants everywhere, yet he didn't have much information on either place.

"Hokage-sama, I'm going to head to Sand and place some extra sets of eyes and ears into their shinobi force. I don't like how this is looking. Since we have next to no intel on Sound, it would be much harder to investigate them at this stage."

Receiving a nod of approval from the Hokage, Kodanuki shifted his eyes back to his supposed godfather, who suddenly spoke up.

"Wait, what exactly is the situation in Konoha? Why do we need spies in an allied village?"

The urge to facepalm repeatedly bubbled up in the jinchuuriki as he couldn't help but gawk behind the mask. Was the Sannin this incompetent with keeping up with the latest news? How could he come back and not know?

"Orochimaru made an appearance during the Chuunin Exams," Sarutobi replied.

"He what?!" The white-haired man prepared to jump at the window, most likely to seek out his wayward teammate.

"Jiraiya-sama, before you go, I have some I'd like to speak with you about." Said man's eyes flickered back onto the ANBU as he was unlocking the window.

"And what would that be?"

"I'd like to inspect the key of the jinchuuriki's seal."

At those words, the Hokage just shook his head. Kodanuki knew that he knew that the brunet had been wanting to do this for a while, and the opportunity now was too good to pass up. On the other hand, the face of the Sannin went pale as he stepped off the windowsill and took an uncertain step forward.

"What did you just say?" His hands were slightly shaking.

Inwardly sighing, the brunet had to repeat his words. "You hold the key to the Kyuubi's seal, and I would like to see it."

Eyes widening ever so slightly, Jiraiya's head whipped around to look at the Hokage. "We have a jinchuuriki? I thought Minato took the entire fox with him to the Shinigami's stomach."

'_Wow, he really is not good at this information stuff. He probably spends more time gathering materials for his books than for the village._' The jinchuuriki was rewarded with a snicker from his tenant.

**"I'm a better godfather than he ever will be."**

'_…_'

**"You're not denying it."**

'_Point taken._'

Focusing back on the conversation at hand, Kodanuki watched Jiraiya process all the information given. Surprising that he was now finding out that his late student had actually sealed the half the fox into a newborn. The gears seemed to click in place for the Sannin as it dawned on him just who his student would use.

"Naruto's alive?!"

'_Interesting. So, he knows my name. I guess that's a given since he probably had a hand in choosing it._'

The Sannin proceeded to slam his palm on the table for a Kuchiyose. A small green toad with white hair and a grey cloak appeared in a puff of smoke.

"Jiraiya-chan, Ma will be angry if I'm not there to eat her cooking." The toad summoner chose to completely ignore the creature's complaining.

"Fukasaku-sama, is it true that one of the toads holds the key to the Kyuubi's seal?"

"I was wondering if you were going to ask. Yes, I believe Gerotora currently has it."

Jiraiya's palm slammed down once again as a strange orange and teal toad, whose torso looked like four barrel rings, appeared.

"Finally! I was wondering when you'd summon me. Being a scroll toad is super boring, you know." He stretched out, two rings each for the top and bottom, to reveal a striped scroll. The scroll toad glanced over at the desk and noticed the elder toad. "Ah, Fukasaku-sama!" His upper half bowed. Then, addressing Jiraiya, he stated, "I'm guessing this is what you want to see." With a nod from Jiraiya, Gerotora unfurled himself to reveal a very large inscription of fuinjutsu.

Kodanuki didn't even wait for permission before he rushed forward to stand in front of the scroll. Whistling to himself, he had to admit that he was impressed. The Yondaime truly was a talented sealer. However, he had seen even more complex seals from his mother's books.

Ignoring how dumbfounded Jiraiya was to realize that the key was still intact, signifying that the seal was very much active, Kodanuki inspected every inch of it. He made sure to take in every last detail, and with his natural Uzumaki ability to analyze seals, he knew exactly what he needed to do.

Before anyone could interrupt him, the jinchuuriki flew through the hand seals and pressed his palm into the page. Small yellow flames spread from his hand and burnt away the symbols until the scroll was blank.

"Do you know what you've done?!" Jiraiya looked a mix of absolutely horrified and absolutely furious. On the contrary, the Hokage just sighed and took another puff of smoke.

"Uh, yeah. I nullified the key. Now the jinchuuriki's seal is under his complete control."

The ANBU almost snorted at the look of frustration on the Sannin's face as the man turned to face his sensei once again.

"How is Naruto alive? Where is he? How does this ANBU know him? Is he safe? Is he happy? When can I meet him? Does he have control of the Kyuubi?" The man took a deep breath before he said, "Why didn't you tell me he was alive?"

Both the Sandaime and Kodanuki were deeply troubled but for different reasons. The brunet could tell that the elder man did not want to explain. On the flip side, Kodanuki was have a mental battle.

'_He actually cares about me like that? That's awfully strange considering that he never seemed to care before. Did he not question Hokage-sama when he was told that I was dead? Perhaps thinking I was dead is the reason he never stays in the village._'

**"Kit, don't think too hard about it. You don't need a godfather. You've got your other humans, and you've got me."**

'_But if I revealed myself, would he want to get to know me better?_' There was no response from his fuzzy friend.

He found himself being once again scrutinized by the Sannin's eyes.

"Thank you for letting me see the key. Now I really must be heading to Suna. Excuse me, Hokage-sama, Jiraiya-sama."

"Appreciated Kodanuki-kun. You may depart as soon as you are prepared."

Kodanuki bowed and quickly used a shunshin to head back to his apartment.

* * *

Updated: 23/3/20


	15. Empty Inside

"Talking"

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

**Chapter 15: Empty Inside**

* * *

Kakashi stared into his cup as the clear liquid gently sloshed around. Lifting it up, he downed the drink and savored the burning is his throat. He waited until the presence he had felt was seated before speaking.

"What do you need?"

Asuma gave him this look that said, 'who said I needed anything,' and signaled to the bartender for a drink.

"They're growing up fast."

Kakashi nodded in response.

"I have no doubt that Shikamaru will make chuunin. That boy's IQ is off the charts. He's able to come up with a tactic to defeat most opponents."

A hum was received from Kakashi. "Sasuke might make it. He's strong, but his attitude might get him killed out in the field."

Asuma sipped his drink. "You're disappointed. I can hear it in your voice."

"Is it that obvious?"

"If this is about Sasuke, just be a good role model, and I'm sure he'll come around."

The silver-haired jounin shook his head. "This isn't about Sasuke. It's about Naruto. I honestly expected him to pass. I know he has so much potential, and he was doing so well against Kiba at the start." He sighed. "What did I do wrong?"

"Hm… Don't put yourself down. It's not your teaching. I think that it's a matter of circumstance. Your team was one of the last to arrive at the tower while Kurenai's was one of the first. Kiba had more time to rest before the match. Perhaps you should try and find someone who's willing to train your other two while you prep Sasuke for the finals."

Kakashi nodded. "Maybe I should." He took a few moments to think before he visibly paled. "Asuma, I know nothing about my students."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, Hokage-sama showed me their living quarters beforehand by protocol, and I know a bit of their preferences from introductions and interacting with them, but I know nothing about who they are." His head dropped into his hands, and he groaned. "I'm a terrible sensei."

Silence panned out between the two. The cyclops berated himself while also wondering why his fellow jounin wasn't saying anything. Then it hit him. Asuma wasn't saying anything because he couldn't deny it. That only made the cyclops feel worse.

Suddenly, an idea popped into his mind. His eye glinted in a mischievous way. Looking over at Asuma, he smiled beneath the mask. "Starting now, I'm going to learn more about them."

The other jounin puzzled over the statement and raised an eyebrow. "And how do you intend to do that?"

.

.

Twenty minutes later, Asuma found himself in a position he really never wanted to be in. He stared at Kakashi in disbelief. "We can't go around and stalk your students! Why can't we do this the normal way like a team dinner or something?"

Kakashi only eye smiled. "We're ninja. Stalking is one of our jobs." He turned his head and peered down at the dilapidated apartment building. Since Naruto was the most mysterious of the team, Kakashi had decided to start with his blond student.

"Doesn't look like anyone's home. Maybe we should try my-" Asuma whipped his head around when he realized Kakashi was no longer next time him. With a groan, he followed the silver-haired man to the front door.

Testing the doorknob, the scarecrow found it to be locked. Pulling out a lockpick kit, he threw himself at the keyhole. Nimbly working the wires in, he heard a click before putting everything away. However, when he tried to push open the door, it wouldn't budge.

"That's strange. I swear I unlocked it."

"Maybe it's a sign that we shouldn't be trying to sneak into your students' homes."

"Nonsense."

"Dog, are you so senile that you're breaking into places now? Looks like age is catching up to you."

Like deer caught in headlights, the two jounin turned their heads to see a very ticked – at least they thought he was ticked by the tone of his voice – ANBU staring at them.

"Oh, not at all. Just visiting my little genin Kodanuki-san." Kakashi gave him a signature eye smile. Asuma only nodded his head in agreement.

"Uh-huh... Like I'd believe that. It's obvious that no one's home and that the lock's been picked."

"And how would you know that?" Kakashi asked in a sickly-sweet voice.

"I've been watching you since you got here," Kodanuki deadpanned. "Trespassing into another shinobi's home is violation of shinobi laws. If I wanted to, I could report you both to the Hokage."

"But you don't want to?" asked Asuma.

"I'm just a guy who happened to be on my way home when I saw two suspicious jounin trying to enter a genin residence." The sarcasm dripped off of him as he rolled his right shoulder back. "But I'm sore and tired, so I'm going to let you off with a warning. Don't let me catch you again."

With that, Kodanuki disappeared with a shunshin.

Kakashi turned to look at Asuma, not a sign of guilt in his eyes. "He only said to not get caught by him again. He never said we couldn't do it." Thus, the scarecrow turned back to observing the door.

"If one ANBU saw us, the rest will too. Give it a rest Kakashi."

"But how else am I going to get to know my students better," he whined.

"By talking to them like a normal human instead of breaking their trust when you break into their houses."

The cyclops pretended to think for a moment. "That makes sense. Maybe I'll try that." He nodded to himself. "Let's go find my cute little blond genin!"

Asuma facepalmed before chasing after Kakashi. Why he was even playing along with this was beyond him.

* * *

Jiraiya wandered aimlessly through the empty streets of Konoha. Usually, he would be attempting to conduct some research at the hot springs, yet he couldn't seem to find the motivation right now.

Apparently, his godson, who he thought was twelve years dead, was alive and well. His godson, who he had only interacted with through Kushina's pregnancy, was a genin of the village.

Sighing to himself, he wondered if he would have been able to meet him sooner if he had stayed in the village instead of wandering the Elemental Nations. It was too late to turn back time, but perhaps he would be able to meet his godson now. His sensei had said that the boy had failed his Chuunin Exam, so the least Jiraiya could do was train him for next time.

His moping – if you could call it that – came to a quick end when he saw Naruto's jounin sensei roof-hopping with another jounin trailing behind him. Jiraiya leapt onto the nearest building and quickly caught up. The silver-haired man turned his head with his eye wide when the white-haired man called out to them, and was that alcohol he smelt?

"Jiraiya-sama!" Both jounin and the Sannin came to a stop.

"Kakashi, I have a question for you." The jounin seemed to stand a little taller. "Do you know where I can find Uzumaki Naruto?"

The other ninja paused for a moment. Perhaps it was from shock, which flickered across their faces.

"We were actually looking for him ourselves," replied the cyclops.

Asuma coughed into his hand. "You mean you are looking for him. I'm just here to make sure you don't get into trouble again."

"Again?" questioned the Sannin.

"An ANBU caught him trying to break into Naruto's apartment. Now we're running around trying to find him."

Kakashi shot the Sarutobi a scathing look. "I wasn't breaking in. I was just going to wait inside for him to come home."

"And what part of that is not breaking in?" accused the other jounin.

The silver-haired man subtly rolled his eye before addressing Jiraiya again. "Jiraiya-sama, please excuse Asuma." Said Sarutobi tried to disagree. "Would you like me to show you to his apartment?"

With a nod, all three shinobi trekked onwards to one of the less popular residential districts in Konoha. Stopping at a rundown apartment building, Jiraiya couldn't believe that his godson, Minato's son, lived in such a dump.

Approaching a door on the third floor, Kakashi knocked a few times. While they waited to see if anyone would answer, he turned and asked the white-haired man another question.

"If I may ask, what business do you have with Naruto?" Jiraiya assumed that Kakashi was asking only for show as he was pretty sure the jounin knew he was Naruto's godfather. Before he could respond, he was interrupted by the Sarutobi.

"Hey Kakashi? When we left, did you relock the door?" Asuma looked perplexed for some reason as he tried turning the doorknob.

"No, why?"

"The door is still unlocked, but…" The other jounin gave a slight push to the unlocked door, and it creaked open. The alarm that flashed through both men's faces caused Jiraiya to panic.

"What's wrong?"

"Even when we unlocked the door, it wouldn't budge before, but now…"

Stepping into the darkness, the three men entered the apartment to find it completely empty.

"What in the-" Jiraiya wandered towards the bedroom while Kakashi and Asuma searched the main room and bathroom for any signs of life. When he opened the bedroom door, he was met with more emptiness. It looked like someone had been living here, as the dust was not too thick, but there were no signs of the bedroom being in current use.

They gathered back into the main room to discuss their findings.

"It seems he completely moved out, but I know for a fact that he was living here before the exams. Though, it's strange: there aren't any scents left. Perhaps we should consult Hokage-sama." Beneath the calm façade, Jiraiya could tell that Kakashi was panicking about the fact that the boy who was supposed to be his younger brother had disappeared without a trace.

Racing back to the Hokage tower, Jiraiya couldn't help but groan when he thought of facing his sensei again after all the emotions that had occurred during his last visit.

The Sannin jumped onto the windowsill and tapped on the glass. He knew better than to fly in this time. Unlocking the window, the Sandaime looked surprised to see him so soon.

"Jiraiya, what brings you back here?" Following the Sannin, Kakashi jumped in as well. Asuma had decided Jiraiya was enough to stop Kakashi from being insane and had called it a night. "I see you brought in a straggler too."

"Where's Naruto?"

"Whatever do you mean? He's in the village like I told you."

Kakashi was the one to speak up. "We went to his apartment and found it empty."

Puffing on his pipe, the Hokage did not look worried one bit. "Oh, did I not tell you? Naruto decided to move after the Chuunin Exams. He's probably settling into his new place right about now."

"And where might that be?" Jiraiya asked.

"He didn't say. Though, you could probably check his records. He should have done the paperwork to get his official address changed."

"Alright, I'll check downstairs. Thanks sensei."

The two bowed before exiting the office and sprinting as fast as they could indoors. They ran through files until pulling out the one labeled 'Uzumaki Naruto.' Jiraiya opened it up and froze at the registration picture. His godson had the same striking blue eyes and bright blond hair as Minato while having the same round face as Kushina. Taking a deep breath, he told himself that he would find him and that he would take him in. Scanning through to the address section, he showed it to Kakashi.

"Is this new?"

He received a shake of the scarecrow's head. "Seems like he forgot to submit an address change." They had reached a dead end in their search.

"Darn it!" Was his godson an idiot?

* * *

**Q&A**

_**What has happened to Hinata without Naruto in her life?**_** (Guest)**

**Hinata will not be making an appearance, so I leave it up to your imagination. Naruto never saved her from the bullies, and he never trained outside meaning Hinata had no chance to stalk him.**

* * *

Updated: 30/3/20


	16. A Game of Cat and Mouse

"Talking"

'_Thinking_'

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

**Chapter 16: A Game of Cat and Mouse**

* * *

Captain Mouse was not having a good day. With the Chuunin Finals only a month away, he had to keep up with the higher influx of information that was coming from Konoha's spies planted in the various countries. The number of reports he had to fill out for Defense Captain Wolf was ridiculous.

So, as he sat in his office surrounded in mounds of reports, he never suspected that the day could get any worse.

"Mouse, where's Falcon-taichou?"

He looked up to see the glaring mask of a fox. This was not good. Mouse didn't want to deal with that man – boy – who was standing in front of him.

"Dead." Rumor had it that Kodanuki was on a long-term undercover mission to protect a noble of some sort.

"What, not him too." Another rumor said he was a workaholic and was forced into a vacation mission.

"He was on an S-class-" The final rumors were that he got an assignment because he was too emotional to lead a team correctly, which supposedly was only by seniority. Mouse wasn't sure which one he believed the most, but he knew that no matter what he thought, if he brought any harm to the one standing before him, he would bring down the wrath of Captain Wolf and his entire division.

Sighing to himself, the realization hit him: his day just got worse.

"I don't care how hard the mission was. Any of my comrades who turn up dead are idiots." The fox ANBU took a deep breath. "Anyways, that's not why I'm here. I need everything you have from the last month in Sand and Sound."

While Mouse resisted the urge to take off his mask to rub his temples, his hand pointed at a cabinet across the room, and Kodanuki dove towards it.

.

.

Papers were strewn everywhere; Captain Mouse groaned. The young ANBU had literally torn through the cabinet and flipped through every single report with the help of shadow clones.

Mouse watched as clones stuffed the reports back into the cabinet in a semi-organized fashion. He would have to go through and make sure everything was in order before Wolf sent someone to check on the reports he was supposed to write. Why was his life so difficult?

Kodanuki finished putting away the papers, even the ones Mouse was sure didn't belong in the drawer. There were still reports here and there that had made their way into apparently invisible corners. Slamming the file cabinet shut, two clones and the original held large stacks of paper as they prepared to leave the room.

"Thanks a bunch Mouse!"

* * *

Yuugao walked through the empty halls. Today was a normal day: most of the ANBU were on missions, so HQ was pretty quiet.

At least, that was what she thought until she heard all of the commotion.

The slam of a wooden drawer could be heard. "Thanks a bunch Mouse!"

Poking her head into the office of Mouse, she couldn't help but smirk at who was causing the ruckus. Three burgundy blurs shot past her and headed off in the direction of the bunkers.

She noticed Mouse sighing to himself as he headed over to a cabinet – probably the one her brother was just digging his hands through – and began to reorganize the papers. She cleared her throat to get his attention.

A head shot up and turned around so fast that he probably got whiplash. There was a moment where the mouse mask seemed to just glare at her. "Cat-san, what brings you here?"

"I wanted to collect any reports you have finished for Wolf-taichou. He said he was having you compile some information together."

Standing and walking back to his desk, Mouse grabbed some documents scattered. "Here's what's done so far. I'll have more as I get through the rest of those." He pointed at the stack of papers on his desk that seemed to want to topple over at any moment.

"Understood. I'll relay that message to Wolf-taichou as well." With a bow Yuugao, made her way out and delivered the reports to Wolf, who was not that stoked that he had more to read. Why couldn't they just do oral presentations instead?

After dropping the reports off to the defense division, her task was now complete, and Yuugao had a moment of rest. There were two things she really wanted to do right now. One was to go cuddle with her fiancé all night. However, he was busy with a recent assignment after they had found a spy in their ranks. He wouldn't be free for a while, but she sure hoped he would be. The second was what she decided to do right now.

Knocking on the door, she waited patiently until the "Come in!" was heard from the other side. The hinges creaked closed as she entered and puzzled over the strange scene she saw before her.

Documents were strewn about with no particular organization. On the bed sat two clones who were busy working on some sort of seal while another, who she assumed to be the original, was seated on the couch skimming through papers before tossing them on the floor.

"You know you could be a bit more organized? Mouse was upset that you went through his stuff without a care in the world."

A black and burgundy blur slammed into her torso and wrapped her into a tight hug. Even though she knew that he knew it was her – he wouldn't have let her come in otherwise – he still acted as if he was surprised.

"Cat-nee! I missed you!"

She returned the hug gently. "I missed you too Naruto-kun. How has your mission been lately?"

"I got fired!" he beamed. However, something almost like guilt flashed through his eyes.

She would have spit out if she had been drinking something. "W-what?! And you're not upset?"

"Nope! Well maybe a little but being fired means more time to chase the snake." He let her go and returned to sitting on the couch.

Yuugao knew that the day after _that_ incident, Naruto promised Itachi that he would protect his brother. It was more like a promise to himself since Itachi wasn't actually around, but she knew he took it very seriously. For him to stop watching Itachi's younger brother directly meant that he found a larger threat to Itachi's brother than what was in front of the younger Uchiha. It seems that larger threat was a certain snake.

"I see…" She turned her head to scan the rest of the room, and that was when she saw the stranger. She somewhat shakily pointed at the man sitting on a bean bag in the corner of the room. "Who…?"

Naruto brightened up again. "Oh! That's Kurama! Kurama, say hello to Cat-nee."

The red-haired man with crimson slit eyes looked up from the book he was reading. Perhaps he would have looked more intimidating if he didn't have a bright yellow highlighter between his teeth. Grunting, he glanced down at the tome in his hands before reaching for the highlighter and marking something on the page.

Sweat-dropping, Naruto apologized for his behavior. "Kurama isn't too fond of people."

"I see…" Yuugao wasn't dumb. She knew that the Kyuubi's name was Kurama thanks to Naruto talking about him all the time. However, comparing the giant beast she saw when she was ten to the man decked out in red sprawled atop a bean bag was difficult to say the least. Now that she was over the strangeness of the situation, she couldn't help but think, '_Where did the bean bag even come from?_'

"So yeah." Naruto returned to his report reading. "Feel free to sit anywhere you'd like."

The purple-haired woman opted to remain standing. "And what is Kurama doing here?"

"Oh, he was being all grumpy about me having to read reports. I asked him to help but he said – and I quote – 'I'd rather read human history than your boring intelligence reports.' So here we are! I found a book on kitsune mythology, and he's been working on pointing out every false statement. Somehow he finds it amusing to-" He put the next statement in air quotes. "'-Discover new aspects of human stupidity.'"

"Uh-huh." The cat ANBU slowly nodded her head. "But what I meant was how is he here?"

Frowning, Naruto took a moment to understand her question. "Oh, you mean how is he outside?" She nodded. "Simple! I nullified the key so that we could finally get rid of that pesky gate. Now he can materialize without needing to possess one of my clones. Isn't that great?"

"Uh-huh," Yuugao parroted and nodded her head. "And what trouble did you have to go through to get to the key?"

At this question, Naruto shied away with that guilty look on his face. Scratching the side of his head, he reluctantly answered the question. "I may or may not have tricked my godfather into summoning the toad that held the key."

It started as a choke and escalated to a chortle. Soon Yuugao was laughing and clenching her stomach. She couldn't believe that the brunet had tricked the Jiraiya into revealing something important like a jinchuuriki seal's key. Wiping away a few tears, she looked up at the boy who looked a bit bewildered. Instead of scolding him, she walked up to him and removed her mask for a moment to give him a quick kiss on the forehead. "Good job Naruto-kun. I'm glad you've succeeded in another one of your goals."

His smile lit up the entire room as he hugged her tightly once again. Yuugao had never seen him so happy. She knew that he had been wanting to free Kurama from his painful prison for a while, and the fact that he finally was able to free the fox made her so glad for him… and Kurama too.

"Well Naruto-kun, are you up for a little fun?" Violet eyes met her own as he tilted his head in a childish way. A grin slid easily on his face.

"What do you have in mind?"

Yuugao returned a grin of her own, although it wasn't visible from behind her mask. Without saying a word, she led Naruto into one of the many sparring rooms. She turned around to face him. The fox mask that had been put on after they left Naruto's room stared back.

Slowly, she pulled out a small slip of paper from her pocket and held it up for him to see. Even though she couldn't see beyond his mask, his sudden body language told her that he was brimming with excitement.

"Is that? No, it couldn't be…" Naruto whispered to himself, not even trying to mask delight in his voice.

"All-you-can-eat ramen coupon from Ichiraku's? It sure is."

"You're the best Cat-nee!" Naruto practically had stars in his eyes as he eyed the coupon in Yuugao's hand. She could tell that just the thought was making his mouth water.

Yuugao smirked behind the mask. "The only way you're going to get it though is by getting through me." Drawing her katana, she faced the young ANBU.

A frown was probably marring his face. "If that's what it takes for unlimited miso ramen," he mumbled. Naruto drew the chokuto she had given him and prepared himself.

Yuugao remembered the day she had given him that sword. She had it specially forged for his eighth birthday, the day he received the sword with maturity yet elation. Thinking back to those days, she knew she missed the old Naruto, the one from before the incident. It was obvious that he was stressing himself out trying to act so mature for his age.

Taking a step forward, silence drew out between them before brunet darted forward. Parrying his first move, the kunoichi sidestepped his second move and shot forward. Her sword clashed with his as they went back and forth.

Watching his quick and fluid motions, Yuugao couldn't help but be proud. Hayate and her had really raised a proficient swordsman. Although Naruto refused to use Dance of the Crescent Moon because he wanted a style to call his own, she could see that the hours of effort he put in to learn kenjutsu had paid off. Of course, she thought this every time she saw his swordsmanship, but she couldn't help but be a proud sister and trainer. In only a few short moments, she was sure that he would win his ticket to unlimited ramen for a meal. He had long since surpassed her in the art of the sword.

* * *

Elsewhere, a man in red snorted once again. Squeaking could be heard as a yellow highlighter passed across another phrase of a page.

Humans thought the strangest things.

* * *

Updated: 6/4/20


	17. Secrets and Flowers

"Talking"

'_Thinking_'

**"Demon Talking"**

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

**Chapter 17: Secrets and Flowers**

* * *

Naruto looked out towards the forest. Smelling the air, he thought, '_I'm going to miss this for a while._'

**"Once we take care of the pest, we'll be back."**

'_I know, but how long do you think that will take?_'

**"Knowing you, not too long."**

'_Hah, thanks Kurama._'

Turning to the right, he faced Cat who had come to see him off. Positivity flowed off of her although mixed with some concern.

"Be safe." He knew that she was saying that out of true concern. First Gecko got sent on a mission and now him.

Giving off the most jovial vibe he could, he replied, "Of course! See you later Cat-nee!" He jumped off the wall and set off through the trees without looking back. It was part of the job after all. She knew the risks that all shinobi, especially ANBU, took every time they accepted a mission.

**"So, what's the plan."**

'_Uh… kick some snake ass._'

**"Anything else?"**

'_Find info to free your brother._'

**"Good, you get the plan."**

His eyebrow proceeded to twitch. Was that all the fox cared about? '_Kurama!_'

* * *

(An undisclosed amount of time later)

**"I'm bored." **The redhead leaned against the wall of a cave and glared at his companion who was busy writing on a scroll.

"For the last time, be patient." Kit had arrived at the location earlier and, by the persistence of Kurama, had let him out to stretch his legs.

**"Can't you do something more interesting?" **

"We're in a desert. There are definitely interesting things to do out here." Sarcasm dripped off of each word like a leaky faucet.

**"And what are you doing?" **The brunet finally looked up and gave the best glare he could to the demon fox.

"Why, I'm just reviewing my notes so that this mission goes smoothly. And what are you doing?"

**"Watching you obviously." **The redhead sank against the wall. **"SO BORED." **

"Shut up Kurama."

**"Why don't you summon them now?"**

"You know I hate summoning them before they have to do anything."

**"It will be less boring."**

"Maybe for you. Not for me."

**"I could just summon them myself." **

"Please don't!" Kurama snickered to himself as his jinchuuriki stood and began to run in his direction.

However, it was too late. **"Kuchiyose!"**

After the smoked cleared, four figures stood facing the redhead. One was pure white. Another was tan in color with a hue of pink whereas the next one was a deep red. The final figure was a light pink with hints of orange.

Quickly taking in their surroundings, the four acknowledged Kurama and bowed deeply. **"Kurama-sama." **A wide grin spread across his face while a groan was heard from across the cave.

When Kurama was first introduced in this world, he had his father for guidance. However, his father soon died, and his father's non-bijuu sons were not the best siblings. Instead, Kurama sought out someone to call family. That's when he stumbled upon skulk of kitsune, true demons. They took him in and called him their own, even though he wasn't born as a kitsune, and he was mildly aware that similar situations occurred with his siblings as well. Now, besides his father and eight other siblings, the kitsune were the only ones he considered kin. He had lived with them for so long that all the younger kitsune began showing him the utmost respect.

**"Kitsuume, Kitsubaki, Barakon, Momokon, it's always a pleasure to see you."**

Without lifting her head, the white fox spoke up. **"How can we assist you today Kurama-sama?"**

His grin transformed into a smirk. **"Not me. Him,"** he stated while pointing behind them. All four quickly turned around to see no one there. Turning back and giving him a quizzical stare, his cute kin watched as he sent a lick of kitsune-bi towards a seemingly simple stone.

The fire hit the stone, which then reverted back into a burning kit. Yelping a bit, Kit rolled on the cave floor, trying to extinguish the flames that were feeding on his bottom.

Both the red and the pink kitsune brightened up at the sight and pounced on poor Kit. Snickering, Kurama mentally patted himself on the back for a job well done. Perhaps he'll consider this partial payback for stopping his battle with the mutt.

As Kit was being tackled by two of the foxes, the tan one shuffled forward shyly in an attempt to rescue Kit from his overexuberant attackers.

Kurama looked down at the white fox, who was smiling at the scene and beckoned her over. **"Kitsuume. Come here." **

**"Kurama-sama."** Her paws quietly padded over, and she settled down beside him humbly with her head down.

**"Enough with the '-sama.' I don't need that from you."** He knew she only acted this way to set a good example for her adopted children.** "Maybe from your kits, but not from you. Look." **She lifted her head and looked to where he pointed. He glanced down and watched her features soften as she observed the scene on the other side of the cave. **"He's grown up, hasn't he?"**

**"Bocchan has grown. I remember when he was just a kit. He didn't even know that us kitsune existed." **

The demon snorted. **"He's still a kit and that won't ever change." **Although he couldn't hear anything, he knew she was internally chuckling to herself. On the flip side, Kit's fake struggles were echoing throughout. **"When I see him like this, it puts me at ease."**

**"Kurama, you two are like father and kit. Even I can see that clear as day." **

**"But I know he thinks of you higher than he does of me. He won't ever admit it though." **

**"Is that so? That's sweet."** Her tail suddenly came up and pointed at him accusingly. **"That's only because you were such a terrible teacher when it came to kitsune-bi. One look at how he used to use it and I had to do something. He had no elegance with it whatsoever. Kitsune-bi is an art that we have crafted. I wasn't going to let Bocchan swing it around like some pyromaniac." **

Kurama gestured towards her. **"Hence, I allowed you to train him." **And if he hadn't, she probably would have burnt his nine tails to a crisp. The white kitsune was so picky when it came to kitsune-bi. If Kurama was a master of illusion, then Kitsuume was a mistress of fire.

**"At least he turned out alright. Unlike a certain someone."** Her glare pierced his crimson orbs.

**"Oi, are you judging my use of kitsune-bi." **His eyes narrowed as he looked back at her amber eyes.

**"Most definitely not Kurama-_sama_."** That was definitely sarcasm that he heard in her voice. There was no winning with this vixen.

**"Whatever," **he muttered and turned to look forward. He most definitely did not see nor care about the smirk that marred her graceful face or the hints of amusement that flashed in her amber orbs. Slowly the single tail he had out at the moment slithered its way out from behind him until it was hairs away from her own tail. If their tails touched and slightly intertwined, who was there to notice?

* * *

Naruto mentally grumbled to himself. Kurama just couldn't help himself could he. Was this payback for something he did? As he gave up beneath the playful foxes wrestling on his torso, his head hit the cave floor. He could hear paws approaching until a face popped up in his vision.

**"Naruto-sama, are you alright?"** the tan fox asked.

"Just fine Kitsubaki," he grunted. "Do you think you could get your sisters off of me?"

**"Um, I'm not sure if I'd be able to Naruto-sama. But since you asked, I'll try my best."** He heard shuffling of feet before the stepping of paws on his stomach stopped. He breathed a sigh of relief. Sitting up, he saw the red and pink foxes glaring daggers at Kitsubaki before turning to glare at each other in disdain. Kitsubaki started to pad back over to him with a shy smile. **"I did as you requested."**

"Thank you." He smiled back and rubbed her between the ears. He didn't tell anyone this, but he loved to rub that spot since it was one of the rare spots where the pink of her coat actually condensed to be visibly pink rather than the more common tan.

Turning to glower at the other two foxes, who happened to be twins, he looked as disapproving as possible. "Now how many times have I told you two not to do that?"

**"But Ru-tan~"** the red one started.

"No Barakon. I don't want to hear it." Addressing both of them, he snapped, "I'm tired of being your wrestling mat."

**"Naruto, you're not our wrestling mat,"** the pink one claimed.

"Momokon, is it not proof that every time I see you, I end up beneath you as you bicker with each other?" Both kitsune looked away slightly ashamed. He knew that they were just being playful… perhaps. These two always wanted to be around him, but they wanted to be around him alone. Thus, they bickered, and if he wasn't currently in a cave working a covert mission, he would have already snuck off to hang out with their other sister Kitsumire or ask Kitsuume to help him with his kitsune-bi.

Things were so much easier when they hadn't known each other well yet.

Choosing to ignore the twins, he began scanning the area for any passing shinobi. That was the reason they were there after all. He was sure his eyebrow visibly twitched when he felt the feeling of affection emanating from the pair of foxes near the cave wall. He did not want any part of that. Scanning further and further out, he noticed weary emotions approaching.

"Kurama, it's time." At this, his foxy friend strode towards him with a grin.

**"Finally." **He lifted his arms as if he were stretching. **"I'm going to get them Kit." **

"Go right ahead. Just don't kill them," Naruto retorted. The redhead proceeded to wink at Kitsuume, otherwise known as Naruto and all the younger foxes' surrogate mother and Kurama's 600-year-old girlfriend, before exiting into the desert. He could tell that the three other kitsune were bristling at the sight, although they wouldn't dare defy Kurama.

Not even ten minutes later, the man – fox – in red returned, and four catatonic Suna ninja were dumped on the ground. Naruto swore that his eyebrow was twitching again, but at least Kurama hadn't killed any of them.

Addressing the four kitsune, Naruto said, "I need your help. Something dangerous is brewing in these men's village, so I'd like you to find out more information. Will you help me?" Without hesitation, the three kits and their mother nodded. He then explained in more detail what he was going to have them do.

Kitsuume was the first. She went for the leader of the group of Suna nin. Prodding the man's chest with her tail, she deemed it safe and entered the man's body. The twins and Kitsubaki followed soon after with the rest of the shinobi. Soon enough, the four ninja stood, each wearing a foxy grin. Kurama stepped forward, weaving a strong illusion into the Suna team's memories that convinced them that they had found the cave and decided to stop for a short break.

He always thought that possession was always the best of the kitsune skills. They were able to enter another being's body without notice and lie dormant until they needed to take control. When they did take control, the host had no clue whatsoever as the host was forced into a comatose state; moreover, a simple illusion could cover up any gaps in a host's memory. It was a shame that since he was technically human, Naruto couldn't learn possession himself.

Kurama faced Naruto and pointed at the exit. **"Shouldn't we get going?" **

He nodded in response and spoke to the kitsune one last time. "I'm counting on you. Keep me updated." The bodies of the Suna ninja bowed before settling down to look as if they were resting.

Disappearing in a poof of red smoke, Kurama's consciousness reentered Naruto's body, and they set off to discover the secrets that lurked behind Suna's walls and to kick some snake ass along the way.

* * *

**A/N**

**An explanation to the names: Ume (Apricot), Tsubaki (Camellia), Bara (Rose), Momo (Peach) all reference flowers. "Kitsu" is a reference to kitsune, and "Kon" is a reference to ****kon kon or gon gon, ****the sound that foxes make in Japanese.**

**Stay well! **

**-TK**

* * *

Updated: 13/4/20


	18. Midnight, Moonlight, and Mourning

"Talking"

'_Thinking_'

**"Demon Talking"**

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

**Chapter 18: Midnight, Moonlight, and Mourning**

* * *

Kitsumire had always been different. Of all her sisters, she was the only one with midnight violet, almost black fur. She was also the only one who neither had a secret nor not-so-secret infatuation of Naruto-senpai.

When Senpai had asked her to watch a person of interest, she honestly thought it would be fun; she was regretting that now. It might be interesting, but watching the messed up things this human was involved in was not fun to say the least. She already hated the smell of snakes, but having to watch her charge taking orders from that _thing_ was awful. Kitsumire was convinced that Senpai was secretly a sadist who was punishing her for who knows what.

Sighing to herself – no one else could hear her from her location – she noticed the grey-haired snake-lover approach another man. She couldn't tell what color his hair was since it was covered with a turban, but she did notice the strange red markings on the side of his face, the side that wasn't covered by cloth. The striking thing was that this new man had a different headband with a symbol close to an hourglass. That didn't make sense. Why was the snake-lover, who happened to wear the Konoha symbol, meeting up with someone from Suna? This was something Senpai probably wanted to know.

She tried to pay close attention to what the two men were about to say. However, Kitsumire wouldn't admit that it was a bit hard when there was dust billowing from the castle across the street. It may have also crossed her mind to question why the castle chose fish of all animals to showcase on the roof.

Turning her focus back on her charge, she listened closely. "So that's his true identity… Amazing."

"You seem pleased? The victim was one of yours," the Suna nin said. The man wasn't even looking towards the snake-lover and instead opted to watch the monster on the castle as it shrunk away.

"It's fine. He has already fulfilled his purpose." Kitsumire couldn't help but be disgusted with the lack of care for life. What were these people? What was that monster on the castle anyways?

"Hm? Wasn't he a guinea pig to test that Uchiha's strength?"

"There's no need for that anymore. I've been given orders to capture Sasuke." That was slightly concerning to the kitsune. Sasuke was still one of their main objectives. Another thing for her to tell her senpai.

"Konoha hasn't caught word of it, have they?" The Suna nin's eyes narrowed precariously.

"Don't worry. They don't know a thing."

"Good. If they discovered our meeting and our plot to destroy Konoha, then all our plans would be for naught." Honestly, Kitsumire had known for a while. She knew about the strange interactions that her charge had with snakes and even had the chance to read some scrolls detailing Oto's main plans.

The man with the red marks continued, "We won't make our move until the end. That is what Kazekage-sama desires."

"Here is the blueprint for all our plans, so please pass it along to your subordinates." If the kitsune was currently possessing a body, she would have stiffened up. That was the exact same scroll that she had read through her charge's eyes not even a day ago. It detailed horrendous acts: summoning snakes to tear down the walls, disguising enemies as bystanders of the Chuunin Finals, and much more. She really needed to let Senpai know soon. But how?

"Sure." She could tell the Suna nin was prepared to leave.

"One last thing, I can take care of the cleanup. Seems that I gained a shadow along the way." Kitsumire could tell that her charge's body was pumping with adrenaline and readying for a fight.

"No, allow me. Consider this a sign of allegiance. Besides, one mouse isn't a big deal." This was bad. The bloodlust coming off of the Suna nin skyrocketed before he disappeared into the night.

The snake-lover decided he would just stroll around, seemingly admiring the full moon. She knew he was only spending this time in order to get himself away from the scene of the battle that was surely ensuing now. She couldn't help but wonder why he even bothered to hang around outside doing nothing instead of returning to his residence. Well, whatever the reason, she wasn't going to let this opportunity of nothing happening slip by.

Kitsumire took this time to mentally catalog all the information that she had garnered thus far. During his exam, Naruto-senpai asked her to watch a person of interest, this snake-lover. His movements after the exam included interactions with a certain snake and the snake's summons.

After the initial meeting in the forest tower, where the snake had taken a strange orange card from the snake-lover and had praised the snake-lover for his good work, the snake-lover had proceeded to withdraw from the competition. Just thinking about the snake now made Kitsumire's fur bristle.

Later on, the snake-lover actually met face to face with the snake at an empty building in the village. The two discussed plans to trigger a war throughout the villages using one Uchiha Sasuke. The snake affirmed its trust in the snake-lover to a point where it was sickening, although it seemed by the way the snake-lover reacted, he was a bit wary of his master and not fully loyal. That was interesting. Kitsumire could only deduce that the snake-lover had a secret desire to overthrow the snake and use the snake's power for himself.

The snake-lover soon returned home where he constantly was receiving new scrolls from actual snake summons. These scrolls, from what Kitsumire could tell, detailed the war that Oto wanted to begin. Discussing plans with many different conspirators, the snake-lover was the main liaison planted in Senpai's village.

The kitsune was startled out of her thoughts by the sight before her. A body lay cut up so badly that its jacket was saturated in blood. It seemed like this was the shadow the snake-lover had spoken of before. This was the man that had died at the hands of the Suna nin. She should probably notify Naruto-senpai of this as well.

* * *

Yuugao stared at her ceiling and wondered what her fiancé was doing right about now. He was probably carrying out his mission to the best of his ability. Perhaps, she needed a mission for herself. Things were tense in the village, especially in her division since they allowed the snake to slip by their defenses. Hopefully this would all be over soon so that she could return to her normal life and spend more time with her fiancé.

Honestly, she couldn't help but think about Hayate at a time like this. Nights of the full moon always held a special place in their relationship, yet it was now the morning after. She hadn't been able to spend the night with him. How she yearned for him to return soon and kiss her on the lips only in the way he could. How she yearned for him to climb into bed with her and wrap his strong arms around her only in the way he could. How she yearned-

A knock interrupted her thoughts. The kunoichi quickly donned her mask and opened the door to find a wolf mask staring back at her.

"Taichou! I'm surprised to see you at this time." Her tone switched to that of teasing. "Shouldn't you be reading those reports I got you."

However, he didn't respond to her, and the atmosphere was grim. After a few moments, he spoke up. "Tokubetsu Jounin Gekkou Hayate's body was found this morning at Kikyou Castle. It is unknown at this time who the assailant was. Time of death is estimated at 0200 hours."

The purple-haired shinobi froze, her face paling beneath the mask. "W-W-What?" she stammered. Then, Yuugao watched as Wolf lifted a sword, Hayate's katana, and placed it in her hands.

Her taichou wisely stayed silent as she dropped to her knees and clutched the sword close to her chest. Her hands couldn't stop shaking, yet the tears did not flow. She couldn't afford to cry at a critical time like this.

She wouldn't be able to feel Hayate's arms around her ever again. She wouldn't be able to lie in bed with him ever again. She wouldn't be able to feels his lips on hers ever again. She wouldn't be able to greet him as he returned ever again.

Hayate was never going to return.

How could this have happened? If only he hadn't taken that mission to tail that spy. Then, he would be safe and sound with her instead of wherever his soul was now. How could she have let this happen? She should have tailed him. She should have made sure that he was safe, yet she had faith that he would return. The phrase repeated in her mind once again:

Hayate was never going to return.

Another thought suddenly struck her, and her world shattered all over again. '_What am I going to tell Naruto-kun?_'

* * *

Naruto sneezed as he continued to run in the desert. '_Must be the sand. There's a reason I never liked the desert._'

Kurama snorted. **"Or someone's talking about you." **

'_I guess that's a possibility too._' Strangely, a stench began to drift in the air. '_Do you smell that?_'

**"Smells like something rotten."**

'_Yeah, it sure does._' Running more quickly in the direction of the stench, he arrived at the edge of a ditch. The words "Oh no" escaped from his lips as he gazed upon the bloody white robes. There lay the decaying body of the Yondaime Kazekage. '_This is bad Kurama. Like really bad._'

**"I can see that,"** the chakra construct drawled.

'_If the Kazekage is here, then who is pretending to be him right now? News would have spread like wildfire if they had known the Kazekage was dead. Plus, his body is here instead of lying in a proper burial._' There really was only one answer to his question, one which equaled a certain snake. Naruto couldn't help but groan to himself. This mission just became a bit more difficult. How would he deal with someone who's currently pretending to be the damn Kazekage?

The sound of paws on sand snapped him out of his thoughts. A fennec fox approached him with a scroll tied to its back, so he bent down and beckoned the fox forward. No doubt this was a fox that one of the kitsune had sent him. Smart that she chose one that was native to this habitat. Detaching the scroll from the fox, he thanked it and sent it on its way. After skimming through the message that Kitsumire had sent him, his blood began to boil.

**"What did she say?"**

'_It seems that Kabuto is much more trouble than we originally thought. He's Orochimaru's right-hand man. Also, Orochimaru is planning to plunge Konoha into war with other villages. The worst though is that some idiot shinobi – before you ask, she didn't say who – tailed Kabuto and got killed for it._' This piece of information solidified his anger. After he handled the snake, he would take care of Kabuto. None of the snake's lackeys were going to escape his wrath.

'_We're heading straight to Suna now. No more detours. The snake's games have gone on long enough._'

* * *

Updated: 20/4/20


	19. Of Snakes and Sand

"Talking"

'_Thinking_'

**"Demon Talking"**

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

**Chapter 19: Of Snakes and Sand**

* * *

In a secured area within the walls of Sunagakure, four ninja stood at attention. Before them stood a short figure hidden by the shadows. Said figure soon spoke up.

"What have you found?"

Each ninja gave a report to their supposed superior. Although all ninja had male builds, their voices carried a distinctively female tone. Listening to every word said, their superior found everything to be already within his knowledge until a certain statement piqued his interest.

"You say that your charge works in the restricted areas of the archives?"

**"Yes, that's correct Naruto-sama. Barakon and I are friends who both mainly work in the archives."**

"Interesting." White teeth glinted in the darkness as their superior smiled. "That's perfect."

* * *

After dismissing the kitsune and thanking them for their help, Naruto had created a clone, and together, the two of them transformed into Kitsubaki's and Barakon's former charges. The true Suna nin were sealed in a stasis scroll where he knew they would stay quiet.

Now, his clone and he were casually talking while acting out all the tips that the kitsune had described in their charges' behaviors. Honestly, he was glad that the kitsune were on his side. It was all thanks to Kurama – whether he admitted it to the fox was another thing altogether.

The shinobi of Suna were in a slight frenzy. Whether it was increased training or stockpiling weapons, the overall bloodlust in the air was unbelievable (though, it didn't faze Kodanuki). He knew that they were preparing for war, but even his slightly sadistic self still thought that this might be a little over the top. Actually, it probably wasn't ludicrous considering that Konoha had been stea- _receiving_ missions from the Land of Wind's daimyo lately though the missions most likely belonged to Suna.

Entering the Kazekage's tower, he was fortunate to be able to pass by without greeting anybody. The other ninja in the general vicinity were just so uptight that they didn't seem to care that he and his clone walked past. It also helped that Naruto and his clone looked like any other uptight ninja.

The Konoha ANBU entered the archives per Kitsubaki's detailed directions and soon found himself upon rows and rows of file cabinets and bookshelves. '_Where to start?_' he mused.

Taking Cat's advice to be a bit more organized with his document search, he first skimmed through all of the many labels and instructed his clone to do the same. However, a rustle to his right soon startled him out of what he was currently reading.

Peeking around the corner, he found another shinobi placing file folders into a drawer. Approaching the poor fellow who was to be subject to his presence, Naruto smiled and waved.

"Hey, I have a question."

The other shinobi looked up, smiled, and waved back. "Ah, Nibu-san, nice to see you. What's up?"

"I was asked to gather some files on that _thing_ since _it _is going to be an integral part of the _plan_."

His interlocutor frowned. "Why would anyone be interested in _that_?"

Naruto shrugged. "Beats me. I'm just doing my job."

Snorting, the Suna nin responded. "Aren't we all. Anyways, I'm sure you'll find them in aisle 13. That's where they have always been."

"Thanks." With a quick boost of chakra in his legs, Naruto shot forward and knocked out the shinobi. Weaving a sturdy memory illusion in the man's mind with a layered sleep illusion for good measure, Naruto set the man down and rushed to aisle 13.

Finding what he was looking for – thank goodness that Suna felt the need to organize their archive well – the phony Suna nin flipped through file after file until he found exactly what he needed.

'_Are you seeing this Kurama?_'

A growl reverberated in his mind. **"This is sick. Considering this is a demon talking, that's saying something."**

'_Who would seal anything into a fetus? That's bound to lead to trouble considering a weak seal would need to be used to compensate for the low chakra levels and lifeforce of the fetus. Well, perhaps they could have supplied chakra from elsewhere, like the mother, but still._'

**"It still doesn't explain why my brother is in pain."**

Naruto turned the pages until he found a detailed account of the seal used. He was glad that Suna was open to sharing knowledge of their jinchuuriki with the entire shinobi force; otherwise, it might have taken him longer to find this exact information.

'_Well, we know how to fix your brother's container now._'

**"Great. Let's get out of here now. This desert is going to give me chronic dry eyes."**

'_Idiot, we can't leave until we take care of the other problems._'

**"Right…" **Kurama grumbled. **"Then get on with it, so we can get back to the forest."**

'_You know, fennec foxes how no problem with the desert._'

**"Shaddup."**

Snickering to himself, Naruto dismissed his clone and disappeared from the archive room.

* * *

"Sir, Shinobi 105462 was found asleep in the archives. It seemed he felt a dire need to nap on the job."

Kodanuki watched as the bogus Kazekage dealt with the issue of "slacking" subordinates by assigning him to the front for the assault on Konoha. Cringing a bit, he wondered if he should feel bad for the poor fellow who was subject to Boss' heavy sleep illusion.

After Boss had sent him off to tail Orochimaru, Kodanuki had found a plethora of reasons to hate the snake even more. For one, he was subject to watching the snake and Kabuto converse directly after the preliminary battles. Then, he was forced to tail the snake to Suna where the former Konoha nin assumed the role of Kazekage.

In all of his time as an infiltrator, Kodanuki had the privilege to do jobs in high-ranking places, but he had never seen leadership as bad as Orochimaru's. It was like the snake was consumed with himself.

Another thing altogether was the disturbing collection of bodies underneath the Kazekage tower. Apparently, the snake needed to feed his summons with something, so Kodanuki often found himself watching as innocent civilians and rebellious shinobi were fed to the gigantic snakes at night. It was awfully disconcerting, especially considering that there was not a high level of panic about the disappearing citizens. He honestly wouldn't be surprised if the snake had somehow put the entire village under some kind of genjutsu.

The clone was honestly glad that Boss finally finished everything he needed to do in Suna. This meant that he could take the last step to eliminate the snake once and for all and hightail it back to Konoha. (It was mainly because the clone was tired of being a mouse, but he would never say so.)

Because he had been watching Orochimaru for so long, he understood the other's routine, and at this current moment, the snake was going to feed his pet summons. Using this opportunity, Kodanuki scurried off to the chamber where he knew the snake would return to once he was done with his current task.

Finally being able to undo the transformation after who knows how long, Kodanuki took a few steps to get reoriented with his size before getting to work. He whipped out his brush and ink and began to paint the tedious seal on the floor. Other clones along with Boss had been working on perfecting this seal for just this occasion. Frankly, it didn't take that long to modify an existing seal, but extra security measures had to be written into the seal to ensure that it would not miss a single scale of the slimy snake when it came time to use it.

Finalizing the first seal, the clone quickly set off into making a secondary seal that would siphon just a sliver of what they needed in order to completely complete this task later on. It was bothersome that the snake had devised the cursed seal and had found the ability to divide himself.

Kodanuki smiled to himself as he observed his final work. It was perfect, and he was sure that it was to work. Now, the only action left was to hide himself and observe. There was no way he was going to go back to being a mouse, so he opted to climb into a nearby vent and entirely mask his presence.

Now it was time to sit back and enjoy the show.

* * *

Orochimaru added 'Collect more villagers' to tomorrow's list of to-dos. Even a genius such as himself needed some way to organize himself. He chuckled as he walked down the hallway towards the room where he would retire for the night. Mentally doing calculations, he realized his summons ate much more than he anticipated, but it would all be worth it since they had agreed to tear Konoha to the ground.

Entering a simple door that he had fortified with his personal security seals, Orochimaru found himself trapped in a barrier the moment he had shut the door. He didn't quite understand what was happening, but he soon would.

Pain coursed throughout his body with no restraint. His knees gave out as he tumbled to the floor. He vaguely noticed that his mouth was open although for what reason he did not know. What in the world was happening?

Then it hit him (somehow, he was still able to think while in a state of great torment): the pain felt the exact same as when that ANBU had meddled with Sasuke-kun's cursed seal.

Curse his sensei and his sensei's ANBU. They were nothing but fools to think that they could keep him down for long. They better not think that this will stop him from enacting his revenge.

Those were the last thoughts of Orochimaru as his body had taken to spasming sporadically until it finally ceased.

.

Kodanuki jumped down and stared at the pale body of the former Sannin. It was just as entertaining as he thought it would be to watch the snake writhe and squeal in anguish until it finally perished. Now all that was left to do was to collect and leave.

Creating a clone and dispelling it, Kodanuki relayed the events of the night to Boss and summoned Boss to his location.

Not even five seconds later, Boss was standing in the middle of the room frowning disapprovingly at the corpse.

"That was surprisingly anticlimactic. I thought he would put up more of a fight."

Kodanuki shrugged at Boss' comment. "Well, that was the plan. I enjoyed watching the torture as his soul was ripped out of him and shoved into a pocket dimension." It was fun watching Boss cringe at his comment too, though he would never say so.

"Right," Boss drawled. "Anyways, let's clean everything up." His original self threw him a scroll, and he promptly sealed the body away. Leaving no trace of the seals or that Orochimaru was ever in the room, Boss had done a great job at cleaning despite despising the menial task.

With everything packed away, Boss turned to address him one last time. "I don't want to hear you complain about being a mouse again. A month is totally not that long." Not a second after hearing the sentence end, Kodanuki poofed out of existence.

.

**"Finally, you're done. Does that mean we can go back to the forest now? This desert is going to leave me dehydrated for weeks."**

'_Oh, quit your whining. Yes, we are going back now._'

**"Well then hurry it up already."**

'_You know you can be such an ass sometimes._'

Naruto glanced around the room one last time to ensure that there was no evidence left from the snake. Nodding his head in approval, he deactivated the barrier that kept everything inside in and everything outside out – not including himself.

Without the help of hand signs, he once again disappeared, this time from both the Kazekage tower and Sunagakure. It was time to return home.

* * *

Updated: 27/4/20


	20. The Godson

"Talking"

**"Demon Talking"**

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

**Chapter 20: The Godson**

* * *

Sarutobi was having another long day in the office.

It started with some civilians barging into his office and demanding that shinobi stopped roof-hopping on their apartment at night. Was it really that hard to understand that shinobi needed to be deployed at all times of the day?

Then, an Academy teacher complained to him about how Class 3-B's worst student was causing trouble… again. He brushed it off, telling the chuunin that it was his responsibility to prepare the future shinobi of Konoha. Didn't these teachers understand that he had better things to do than listen to their worries about shinobi-in-training who would probably fail if placed in the field?

Next was a full day in the mission assignment room. The typical genin complaining that they wanted a harder mission and the chuunin who were always requesting a break from border patrol were going to drive him slightly insane. Every day was the same annoying requests to not catch Tora or not have to spend a week in the woods. They were ninja for goodness sakes.

Now, he finally had some time to himself. He never thought paperwork would be as much comfort as it was at this moment. It was the scapegoat to allow him such uninterrupted peace and quiet. It also helped that it was also close to 0100 hours and that most of the village was asleep. He hadn't even realized he had locked himself up in his office that long.

A tap on his window alerted him that his silence was coming to an end. He allowed his student to climb through the window before the Sannin burst out with another annoyance to his day.

.

Jiraiya was having a terribly long day in the village.

It started with the realization that the Chuunin Finals were tomorrow. It was such a shame that his godson wasn't participating this time around. He wasn't even able to pester Kakashi about Naruto since the Hatake had to go off and train the little Uchiha for the exams. Not that he didn't think helping your students succeed wasn't important, but couldn't the jounin spare just an hour to tell him more about Minato's son before he abruptly departed?

Then, to keep his worries off of his mind, he proceeded to conduct some research. Of course, it was very informative, but it hadn't felt the same ever since that day almost a month ago. That was a frightening realization that he hadn't caught a whiff of Naruto since stepping foot in the village.

Hence, he now found himself gracefully entering his sensei's office to glean any information on his godson _again_.

"It's been almost a month Sensei!"

His sensei sighed, reached for his pipe, lit it, and took a deep breath.

"I'm not micromanaging my shinobi Jiraiya. There are thousands of them, and I don't see the need to watch a single one more than the rest."

Annoyance bubbled up in Jiraiya. How could he say that? Couldn't he see that this was an important matter to Jiraiya, his only _loyal_ student (Tsunade might have counted if she wasn't so resentful of the village). "There is a need when that shinobi is Minato's son and the _Kyuubi jinchuuriki_!"

Not getting a direct response, the Sannin watched the elder man take another long drag on his pipe. "Like I said-" Suddenly, he and his sensei were alert as another presence entered the office. It was the brat ANBU from _that_ day – the day he found out about his godson being _alive_.

The fox ANBU knelt respectfully but did not hesitate to speak. "Please excuse the interruption, Hokage-sama, Jiraiya-sama."

The Hokage's demeanor lightened up, and Jiraiya was sure that he was just glad for a change of subject. "Ah, Kodanuki-kun, at ease." The brat proceeded to stand. "I see you have returned from your mission."

"Yes, Hokage-sama." Pulling a scroll out of who knows where, he placed it on the desk. "It has been completed. It is not dangerous to open, but I would not recommend that you open it."

Cringing, his sensei fingered the scroll before deciding to put it aside. "Probably best that I don't." What could be in the scroll that sensei was so nervous to open it? There was a plethora of reasons Jiraiya could think of. Maybe it was a body that was too gruesome to look at and the brat was being polite. Or maybe it was something that will spill out and take too much time to clean. Whatever it was, it must have been unpleasant for even the Hokage to hesitate when it seemed so important.

That's when he remembered what the brat was assigned to do. He had gone to investigate the wayward Sannin Orochimaru. Was it possible that the scroll contained something more than just unpleasant?

He was jolted from his thoughts when his sensei spoke up again. "Is there anything else to report?"

"Yes, but first, how soon until the Finals?" the brat asked.

"Tomorrow," replied the Hokage, and Jiraiya could tell that the normally trained body of the ANBU couldn't help but stiffen.

"Tomorrow… That's not much time then. What are the security measures for keeping bystanders safe during the matches?"

Sarutobi explained, and the room seemed to get tenser. There was a pause from the brat before the air returned to its former state.

"There are two sources of concern. One is the jinchuuriki. I have no doubt that he will be seeking blood if my last meeting with him was anything to go by. He is highly unstable, and his seal will need to be repaired. The second is _that_ spy. He is supposedly _his_ right-hand man. From what I gathered he is planning on casting a wide range genjutsu on the entire stadium to signal the start of war. I am uncertain if he is aware of what I have done. If you would like, I could summon him here, and we could handle it once and for all."

It was now the elder man's turn to pause as he considered the information that was given to him. Jiraiya felt tense watching his sensei try and come to a decision about the two pieces of information given to him. The Sannin understood the risks of allowing Suna to continue to participate, especially with the Ichibi jinchuuriki and the looming attack. However, if there was some way that this spy could be eliminated, then war might never come.

Seemingly, Sarutobi came to a similar conclusion. "With you back, I know we can handle the Ichibi. I assume your trip allowed you to garner some useful intel on the seal. As for the spy, I'll have Lion handle it right away. He will surely take care of him."

From what he had seen, Jiraiya knew that the brat had some knowledge in sealing, but to leave him in charge of a bijuu that may go wild in Konoha was ridiculous. The brat couldn't be older than 14. There was no way he could take on the Ichibi by himself.

"Sir, I'd like to handle the spy myself if you will allow it." The Hokage granted him the permission he asked for. "Thank you Hokage-sama." The brat then turned and addressed Jiraiya. "If I may sir, I would like your assurance."

"About what brat?"

"That when the Ichibi is released, you will put up a barrier strong enough to protect Konoha. I have no guarantees that I will be able to suppress the bijuu, but I know that you sir, as a loyal Konoha shinobi, have the ability to keep the village, _our_ village, safe."

The brat had a point but was seriously mistaken. The Sannin had no obligation to attend the Finals. Although, he did want to find his godson, who would probably attend to support his Uchiha teammate. It wouldn't be bad to use this opportunity to hit two birds with one stone.

Yet, he wasn't going to agree just because some ANBU brat, who probably hadn't hit puberty yet, was asking him. "And why should I listen to a brat like you?"

"Because you care about keeping this village standing." Jiraiya scoffed. That wasn't a good enough reason. "And you care about finding your godson."

He froze. The brat had hit a sore spot for him. How did he know that Jiraiya hadn't been able to find the boy when the brat had been out of the village and had just returned? The brat knew who Naruto was. If he helped the ANBU and the village, would the brat help him find his godson at long last?

A voice cut through like a dagger. "I'll do you one better. I'll let you meet him right now."

If Jiraiya had been paying attention, he would have noticed the surprise that flickered over his sensei's face before being replaced with something attune to approval. However, he was too busy gaping at the brat before he found his composure and glared.

"If I haven't found him for a month, there's no way you could bring him here _right now_ in the middle of the night."

"I can, and I will. But first, your assurance." He felt like an ice-cold glare was piercing his being.

He shrugged it off. "Fine, I'll put up a barrier." He mumbled, "Whatever good that might do."

The ANBU seemed to relax, but the piercing glare didn't feel like it was stopping anytime soon. "Good enough. I'll probably handle the Ichibi fine anyways."

"Now, about Naruto…" Jiraiya wouldn't admit that he was a bit nervous. Thinking about meeting Naruto and actually meeting Naruto were completely different. How would the boy react? Would he accept him as his godfather? Would he reject him because he had been away for twelve years? Each thought felt like a pit in the Sannin's stomach that he couldn't quite rid himself of.

A hand reached up. Was the brat going to do some sort of jutsu? The hand grabbed onto the fox mask. Okay, probably not a jutsu. And the hand pulled the mask away. Wait, what?

The face that now stared back at him was slightly different yet the same. It was the same round face of Kushina coupled with the cute whisker marks. A hand touched behind an ear, and the strange colors that made the face slightly different retracted. Blond replaced black and cerulean replaced violet.

Jiraiya sucked in a breath. He looked just like Minato, more so in person than from the photograph.

Stumbling forward, the Sannin reached out his arm, but before he could reach where his godson was, a clawed hand was wrapped around his neck and another was ready to gut him.

The redheaded man in front of him was nothing like Naruto. Where had he come from? His piercing, red eyes glared at him strongly, and Jiraiya realized then and there that this was where the cold, piercing stare originated from. The aura wasn't friendly either.

**"You don't get to touch him." **The hand wrapped a little tighter, and the claws dug a little deeper. He wouldn't say that he was panicking, but his guard had been down, and now a man, who no one seemed to be stopping, was about rip his throat out.

Finally, a voice spoke up. It was different from the voice of the ANBU, more lighthearted, playful, and innocent. "Kurama, don't kill him."

The man's eyes turned away from Jiraiya's and looked behind. **"You don't need him. You have me." **

"Kurama. Put. Him. Down." Besides the man about to kill him, Jiraiya was very confused as he heard the stern voice of the ANBU again. How was his godson both a genin and an ANBU?

**"Fine. But don't say I didn't offer you this chance." **The man let him go, walked away, and stood like a parent next to the brat – '_Naruto_', he reminded himself.

Turning his head, the blond gave a playful glare to the strange man. "When did you get so possessive?"

The redhead snorted. **"You only need one godfather, and it's definitely not him."**

"Kurama, I can have as many godfathers as I want. Thank you very much."

An appendage materialized out of nowhere. Jiraiya could have sworn his eyeballs popped out of its sockets because it was a long, red tail. The limb smacked his godson behind the head, and the boy was now glaring daggers once again at the man.

**"Don't be rude Kit. It's unbecoming."**

The clearing of a throat caused everyone in the room to freeze and turn their eyes to the man behind the desk. Jiraiya could have smacked himself. He had been so distracted with the idea of meeting Naruto that he had forgotten that they were in his sensei's office. Wait, why hadn't his sensei saved him when he was clearly about to die from claws to the throat?

Smiling tensely, the Hokage turned to the foreign man and addressed him. "Kyuubi I presume?"

And that's when the Sannin's eyes turned to the man once more, and Jiraiya's jaw dropped wide open.

* * *

Updated: 4/5/20


	21. Built and Broken

"Talking"

'_Thinking_'

**"Demon Talking"**

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

**Chapter 21: Built and Broken**

* * *

"Kyuubi I presume?"

The room was tense after that revelation. Naruto really, _really_ had not wanted the Hokage to see Kurama like this. It was too late now, and even Jiraiya was gawking and sputtering incomprehensible words.

Kurama gave a grand smile, unfurled his tails, and raised his arms high. **"Yes, it is I, the great Kyuubi no Kitsune. Destroyer of mountains and razer of villages. Mightiest of the bijuu." **As the fox continued to spew out random titles, Naruto facepalmed at this overly dramatic introduction.

The Hokage's face turned grim. "I see." His eyes met with Naruto's. "I don't like you keeping things from me."

"Uh…" he intelligently said. In his mind, he wasn't panicked, more like cursing himself for not telling the full truth. He had told his commander-in-chief that he wanted to unlock the key to gain full control of the fox's power instead of saying that he was allowing the fox to roam free. He hadn't really ever explained his relationship fully to the Hokage. All the man knew was that Naruto could converse with Kurama.

In all truth, Naruto never wanted to gain 'full control' of Kurama's power. He didn't want to control Kurama. If Kurama wanted to assist him, he could share his power of his own free will. Whoever thought that humans could _control_ bijuu was plain wrong.

'_Kurama, say something for me._'

**"Psh, you humans have no sense of privacy. Kit can keep things from you if he wants." **

Okay, maybe he shouldn't have asked Kurama to say something. The looks on the other two shinobi's faces was blatantly giving away that they were wary of Kurama, and anything he said was being taken as a threat.

"Kurama, I'll take it from here. Your presence was uncalled for."

Kurama gave him a sharp look. **"Alright, but they do anything to hurt you…"**

"You know as well as I do that they're trustworthy…" Mentally he added, '_enough_.'

The fox turned to stare at the Sannin who at this point had recovered enough. **"I'm watching you. Don't try anything."** And he dispelled.

Now that Kurama wasn't here to take up any attention, all eyes fell on Naruto. He shyly smiled, and his tone of speech reverted back to formal. "My apologies Hokage-sama, Jiraiya-sama. Kurama is a bit more possessive than I had originally presumed."

Jiraiya stepped forward before falling to his knees in front of Naruto. The blond resisted the urge to take a step back and dart away from the man. Seeming unfazed by Kurama's recent actions, the large man pulled Naruto into a gentle hug. Cerulean eyes widened. This was definitely not the reaction he thought his godfather would have when Naruto had revealed himself.

Naruto was supposed to be a soldier – a weapon, though he didn't like to think that way – for this village. Of course, he had the ability to feel emotions (it would be ridiculous if his emotions were taken away), but everyone of importance, even those in the ANBU bar the Hokage, Soutaichou, his former team, Wolf-oji-san, and Cat-nee, were afraid of him (that might have been due to the threats from Wolf-oji-san and Cat-nee, but who knew). Despite seeing one of Kurama's worst moments, Jiraiya still bypassed his doubts and hugged him, _hugged him_.

"Um… Jiraiya-sama?" This was very uncomfortable, and Naruto had become as stiff as a rock. He was usually administering the hugs (only to Wolf-oji-san and Cat-nee) not receiving them.

A whisper brushed against his ear: "I've wanted to meet you for so long." If Naruto's eyes were able to grow wider, then they just did. No one outside of ANBU had even known that he was alive, and yet Jiraiya said he wanted to meet him. The depth of those words wasn't just from the month he probably spent scouring the village too. Did he somehow hold on to hope even though he was lied to for years? Perhaps this was all a ruse that would end soon.

After what felt like forever, the arms that were wrapped around him shifted, and two hands gently pushed him back so that he was looking straight at the face of his godfather. Black eyes softened at the sight of blue, and a soft smile spread across the older man's face.

"Hey Naruto, I'm your godfather, Jiraiya."

He probably should have thought of a thoughtful reply, but the first words that escaped his mouth were "I know."

The smile almost turned to a frown, but somehow it managed to stay upturned. "I suppose you do."

What was he supposed to do? The first time officially meeting his godfather and he had no clue how to act. Should he be more excited? It wasn't like this man had cared for him his entire life. That honor went to Wolf-oji-san and Cat-nee. Well, if he disliked him, Jiraiya would have already left and wouldn't be kneeling less than half a meter away.

His eyes strayed away, flitting around the room and trying to find something else to latch onto. Glancing back at the face next to his, Naruto took a few steps backwards. "Well, I have to go prepare for fortifying an unstable seal in less than 24 hours, so I'm going to take my leave."

Guilt spread through him like wildfire as he watched disappointment cross his godfather's face. "That's right. You're an ANBU." He said that statement as if he still had a hard time believing it.

"Um… if you… I mean… would you like… um… to get lunch sometime after the finals?" Did he just ask his godfather out for lunch? Why? That didn't even make sense. He wasn't even supposed to be in the village now that he didn't need to pretend to be a genin. What was he thinking?

The blond forgot all his prior thoughts as he saw the Sannin's face light up and stare at him as if he couldn't believe what he had just heard. Maybe it was worth asking after all. Before giving the man a chance to respond, Naruto put his mask back on, and his hair bled back to black.

"I'll send my summons to get you. Please don't forget the barrier. Excuse me, Hokage-sama, Jiraiya-sama."

Naruto flashed away before having to stare at his godfather any longer and before having to deal with the raging emotions within him. He had a snake-lover to deal with.

* * *

A few hours and much struggling later, Naruto dumped the comatose body of Yakushi Kabuto into a stasis seal. He had found the man locked away in his apartment while testing some sort of medical jutsu on himself. It was quite obvious that Kabuto was not a normal genin, but medical jutsu? Seriously? Just how skilled really was the man?

It didn't take very long for him to knock the man out and weave an illusion that convinced his body to stay in a coma. Honestly, with Kitsumire around, it was a no trouble at all.

Kitsumire had done a great job spying on him, but now Naruto relieved her of that duty. And relieve her it did. She didn't waste any time complaining about how she wasn't going to do another favor for him again. The kitsune had actually bit his head and announced that if he ever asked her to watch someone again, she was going to make him do a background check on the person. So much for always wanting to help her senpai.

Then, she tackled him on the ground and proceeded to wrestle with him in an enemy base. He's all for playing with her, but did she have to do it there and then? He was already annoyed as it was, and her attitude wasn't helping much.

So, after he got Kitsumire off of him and dismissed her (much to Kitsumire's chagrin), he now could clean up the mess that was Kabuto. There wasn't much things of interest to him in the apartment, so he just blocked everything off with barriers and stasis seals, so some ANBU with more time on their hands could take a look later.

Finally, he had a chance to go back to headquarters and rest for the first time in a month.

He didn't see anyone for the rest of the night and for the entire day, but that was most likely because he hadn't announced his return to anyone in particular. Wolf-oji-san, Cat-nee, and the rest of the Internal Defense Division were ridiculously busy with preparing for the finals the next day, so he hadn't wanted to bother them.

Staring at the ceiling, he couldn't help but think about the events of last night. His godfather was an insane person. Naruto just didn't understand. How do humans even warm up to someone that fast?

Why had he wanted to get lunch with the man? Was he taking pity on the person that was supposedly supposed to care for him? Was he guilty for not revealing himself the first time? His heart pounded rapidly in his chest as he turned over onto his side.

He had told himself that he wasn't going to let anyone else into his life. He had Wolf-oji-san and Cat-nee. Then he had his team, but they had disbanded after Itachi had left them. He wasn't going to go through that again. He wasn't going to have someone betray him like that again. That's why he chose to close himself off.

Itachi had betrayed him and his trust. The day they met, Naruto said that he wanted to build trust in his team. He didn't want them to be at each other's throats the entire time. Yet, Itachi had gone off on his own. He hadn't told his own captain that he was tasked with the impossible. Why couldn't he have just told Naruto before Naruto had left on his mission?

And that mission… The Hokage just had to give him a month-long infiltration mission in the capital at the exact same time Itachi was planning on massacring his clan. What was the point of that? Keeping secrets from him. His jiji had lied to him. His jiji had gone behind his back. His jiji had lost his trust. Naruto wondered if he would ever be able to forgive the Hokage for doing that to him, doing that to his team.

Gosh, he missed his team. He was so happy to see Snake last month during the Second Exam. He hadn't seen her in a while before that. Naruto should plan a dango date or something with her. It's been too long.

Also, he should check in with Gecko. The last time that he checked, his older brother didn't have a nasty cough. Hopefully, it wasn't anything chronic. It had been a while since he, Cat-nee, and Gecko got together for some good kenjutsu training. He should plan a training day for the three of them too. He was sure that Cat-nee and Gecko would really like that. Although Cat-nee always got kind of weird, like in the clingy-to-Gecko kind of way, whenever Gecko was around. He didn't really understand it, but he knew that they were engaged, so that was probably normal for couples… maybe.

These were the only people he needed in his life, and he was happy with it. He didn't need to let any other people in. If he put trust in too many, they would all break it in the end. There was no use in accepting someone in his life when they weren't guaranteed to stay. That thought brought him back to his godfather. With his spy network, the man would leave all the time. It wasn't worth making a connection with him.

Yet… why was he so quick to accept his godfather?

* * *

Updated: 11/5/20


	22. Wounds of the Heart

"Talking"

'_Thinking_'

**"Demon Talking"**

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

**Chapter 22: Wounds of the Heart**

* * *

Kakashi never means to be late, it just happens. This time was no different. It wasn't his fault that Sasuke too such a long time to pack up after their remote mountain training. What was there even to pack up when they were training on a mountain?

Well, it happened anyways. They were late to the Final Exams, but luckily, Sasuke had not been disqualified. Genma had started off the match, and the two genin were now fighting it out in the arena.

Sasuke had gotten much stronger and faster after training. The jounin hoped that it was enough for his student to have the upper hand. He even taught his own jutsu, the Chidori, to the boy in hopes that it would penetrate the jinchuuriki's impenetrable sand defense.

Right now, though, the jinchuuriki was toying with Sasuke badly. The tendrils of sand were nearly impossible for the boy to dodge, but his speed had gone up just enough that he managed. Well, Kakashi probably had no need to worry about death. Genma would definitely stop the match before it came to that.

The silver-haired man was currently occupied with a different task than watching his student battle. He was looking for his cute little blond student. Sakura was next to him in the stands cheering on the boy of her infatuations, but Naruto was nowhere to be seen. It didn't make sense. Did the boy's rivalry with Sasuke become so toxic that he hadn't even shown up to the Finals?

After finding his apartment empty, Kakashi had hoped to catch the boy at his other normal hangouts like Ichiraku's. Yet, he never saw the boy again. Too bad he had never introduced Pakkun to his team. Perhaps the pug could have helped him more in finding his student.

It might seem that Kakashi didn't care much about his students, but he was seriously trying. And like he said, he never meant to be late. Things just happened, and he seemed like a lackadaisical teacher because of it. He tried really hard to get to know Sasuke more during their training. He asked the boy about his daily life, but all the Uchiha had wanted was training and no talking. Not a healthy relationship brewing between them if you asked Kakashi.

His mind had always partly been on Naruto and how he vanished without a trace only days before Kakashi went off with Sasuke. How had his sensei's son, the loudest member of their team, just vanished?

When he had deduced that Naruto was his sensei's son, he couldn't deny that a part of him was overjoyed. That day almost thirteen years ago, he thought that he had lost the rest of his family. Being told that his sensei, his sensei's wife, and his sensei's unborn child had all perished in the attack had sunk him deeper in his misery. But not even four months ago, he discovered that he hadn't lost everything. He had a brother, although the blond boy didn't know of any family.

Considering that he couldn't find his brother anywhere was eating away at him. Where could the blond rascal be?

His eyes wandered past the stands and to the Hokage's balcony where the Hokage sat alone with two bodyguards standing behind him. The two bodyguards wore normal jounin outfits and were of average adult height, yet Kakashi couldn't shake this feeling that something was wrong with the two men standing beside the Hokage. He shouldn't be worried. The Hokage was called the Professor for a reason, and if the man wasn't worried about his seemingly strange bodyguards, then Kakashi shouldn't worry either.

The chirping sound of his jutsu snapped his eyes away from the Hokage and to his student who was currently standing on the arena wall. Guy berated him for teaching Sasuke the technique, but he brushed it off. The boy needed someway to win, and he now had the speed and the Sharingan for the Chidori.

As the sound abruptly stopped, Sasuke's hand became stuck in the strange sand cocoon which had wrapped itself around the jinchuuriki. The Uchiha yanked his hand out just in time for a shrill scream to echo through the arena. It screamed of pain and blood and terror. Had the Suna genin never been hurt before?

The cocoon burst as a creature not quite human emerged. It looked like a mix between a sand demon and boy. Two arms of sand with large blue veins stretched out and a tail protruded from the boy's backside. Although he couldn't see far enough to tell if the jinchuuriki was smiling, the bloodlust emanating off the Suna genin could be felt all the way from the high stands.

Not a second later, Sasuke was getting pummeled by a half-man half-demon. Kakashi could only watch as the boy tried to take cover in, well, nothing since all the trees were wiped away by the earlier tsunamis of sand.

As the Uchiha tried his best to fight back, there wasn't much he could do but dodge the sand bullets that rained down. The bloodlust spiked even higher, and the jinchuuriki's legs became encased in the demonic sand. That's when Kakashi felt it. A barrier had been erected. By whom he didn't know but he felt the chakra encase the entire arena such that the bystanders were protected from any attacks.

Genma tried to call the match as Sasuke was barely standing trying to pick up himself up by leaning on the arena wall. However, the jinchuuriki didn't stop and rushed forward.

What happened next, he would never be able to explain. He had to blink twice just to be sure he saw what he had just saw, but there was no trace of it left. He swore he saw a seal appear on the arena floor. Yet, there was no seal now, and the jinchuuriki collapsed as the chakra holding together the sand dissipated. All that was left was the unconscious body of the boy that had mere seconds ago been out for Sasuke's blood.

What had triggered such an instantaneous change in the jinchuuriki's behavior?

* * *

(Mere minutes ago)

'_Wow, your brother is batshit crazy._'

The demon in his gut snorted. **"He wasn't always like that. I hear the tanuki apparently did wonders, in a good way, to his attitude." **

'_Then why's he like this now?_' Naruto watched as Sasuke fell against the arena wall and got pelted with sand bullets.

**"Kit, you're asking me?"**

The proctor tried to intervene, but Gaara wouldn't stop. That was Naruto's cue. He silently activated the seal he had placed on the arena floor while flashing away to a place he liked to call his personal pocket dimension (separate from the pocket dimension he sent the snake's soul). He had discovered how to create pocket dimensions a while ago, but this one held a special place in his heart.

Across from him was the snarling form of the Shukaku's container, who was not looking peachy. He flashed directly in front of the redhead (while patting himself on the back for laying Hiraishin seals on every inch of this dimension) and slapped a seal on his forehead.

A moment later, Naruto and Kurama found themselves in the middle of a sandstorm, a mental sandstorm.

"Wow, no wonder he's insane. His mindscape is literally a constant dust devil."

Kurama grabbed his hand and dragged him further through the storm. The brunet tried to resist but he just found himself being unable to fight against the fox's strength.

"Damn it Kurama. Let me go!"

**"My brother is this way. We have to go help him."** The sandstorm roared even louder.

"But I have to find Gaara! Can you imagine that boy out here, or in here, by himself?"

Kurama let go, and Naruto almost reached to rub his wrist. **"Fine, I'll find my brother, and you can deal with the container."** With that, Kurama disappeared into the raging storm.

Great.

Now he was stuck in the middle of who knows where without Kurama. Maybe, he should have stopped the fox before he wandered off. Now they were split up.

Squinting to try to find his way, Naruto tried to latch on to any emotions he felt to guide him. However, it was practically impossible when the entire desert emanated _pain_ and _loneliness_. Was this how he could have felt if he hadn't had his family there for him? Yet, there was an even deeper emotion lingering: _betrayal_, and boy did the brunet understand that one.

Naruto didn't really mean to pry, but he latched onto the betrayal the most and stumbled into Sunagakure. He didn't recognize the village right away, but there were plenty of clues around.

Young children laughed in delight as they tossed a ball around. A boy kicked the ball just a little too hard and it rolled past Naruto. Turning around, that's when he saw him.

A young Gaara, no older than seven, picked up the ball in his pale hands. Stepping forward, he tried to offer the ball back, but the children screamed "Monster" and ran away.

The redhead looked down at the ball and back up at the children. He stretched out his arm and a tendril of sand followed. "Wait" escaped his lips as the sand wrapped around a boy's hand, who screamed and demanded to be let go.

"Gaara-sama." A man appeared, and the scene shifted.

They stood in a brightly lit room. Gaara was overly nervous and shifty. He spoke up then:

"Yashamaru, what is pain? I've never been hurt so…"

The man in the room knelt down and explained patiently. "Hm, it's sort of like hurting and unbearable. It's so hard to explain."

The boy looked down and something like fear crossed his face. "Then… Yashamaru… do you hate me?"

"Humans spend so much time hurting each other, but people still love more than hate." The man smiled down, and the boy looked a bit more upbeat.

"Thanks Yashamaru. So, does that mean I can hurt too?" The man looked in surprise as the redhead clutched the spot over his heart. "It always hurts… It doesn't bleed.. But it hurts right here." The look of distress on the child made Naruto feel sympathetic.

Grabbing a letter opener, Yashamaru cut his finger and showed it to Gaara, who looked so shocked that the man would do such a thing.

"A physical wound will bleed and look very painful, but the pain will be gone with time. And using medicine heals it even faster!" Gaara looked as he wanted to speak up, but he allowed Yashamaru to continue. "But the bothersome ones are wounds to the heart. They take so long to heal."

"Wounds of the heart?"

Yashamaru looked down. "They're a bit different. There are no medicines to heal them and sometimes, they never heal." The dejected look on the redhead's face told all that he was feeling. "But there is just one thing that can ease wounds of the heart, yet you can only get it from someone else."

Surprise settled on the boy's face. "What is it?"

"Love."

"Love?" the boy parroted.

"You've already received some Gaara-sama. I believed my sister loved you to the bottom of her heart, and you are very precious to me too."

The memory melted away once more until they were standing on a roof at nighttime. A ninja attacked Gaara with kunai and brutally fell victim to the young boy's sand.

Crawling forward, Gaara's hands shook as he unmasked the shinobi. To his and Naruto's surprise, it was Yashamaru, the man who he had just seen explaining love to a boy who did not understand.

"Why Yashamaru? Why?!"

As the dying man explained his orders and intentions, Naruto understood the source of betrayal he had latched onto. Gaara had been betrayed by this man whom he cared for very deeply, probably even loved.

Taking a step forward, Naruto found himself back in the desert. The storm was as strong as ever, and he kept walking until he was sure he was at the epicenter which reeked of negativity. Looking forward, he couldn't help but frown at what he saw.

There, sitting in the sand, was Gaara, clutching his chest and silently crying without the tears that typically should have fallen.

* * *

Updated: 18/5/20


	23. Mother's Care, Brother's Err

"Talking"

**"Demon Talking"**

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

**Chapter 23: Mother's Care, Brother's Err**

* * *

There were some words that came to mind when Kurama thought of his brother: obnoxious, irksome, ridiculous, idiotic, rambunctious, etc. However, insane had never been one of them.

That first day that Kit had met with his brother's container, he had felt the insanity emanating from the jinchuuriki. It was crazy, literally. He had never seen his brother in such a state of internal torment before. There had to be, just had to be, some reason that his brother was acting like a killing lunatic. Kurama would not accept that his brother had stooped so low that he was coercing the pure soul of a child to kill for his own pleasure.

As he stumbled through the sandstorm that seemed to get stronger the longer he walked, he knew he was getting closer to the place where his brother lay dormant in his jinchuuriki's mind. Kurama, for the longest time, was stuck in a cage in a dark cave, but considering the seal that was holding his brother back, the tanuki was probably in something much less restraining than a cave.

An outcrop came into view, and he saw that the rock formation was large – large enough to hold a bijuu of their caliber. On closer inspection, he realized that it was like a coliseum and that the rock was actually more like an enclosing wall, with a narrow gap that a human, but not a bijuu, could walk through. He shook his head. What a wicked structure to trap his brother in. The truly depressing part was that his brother most likely had not realized that he was trapped in a structure that implied he fight for the rest of his life.

Approaching the gap, he noticed there was a guard, and that guard turned out to be a woman. It looked like a precious little thing with short brown hair and indigo eyes, and there was a pale-yellow scarf wrapped around its neck. Its clothing reminded Kurama of the garments he saw the humans in that sand village wear. Every time there was a loud crashing sound, the guard winced and summoned more sand to whirl around the top of the coliseum, willing whatever was inside to not escape.

Kurama stepped forward until he was practically face-to-face with the woman. Its eyes slightly widened since it was probably not used to seeing anyone else in the mindscape.

A soft voice spoke a bit more defensively than expected. "And who are you?"

**"Kurama," **he grunted. **"I need to get in there."** He pointed into the gap that led into the coliseum.

"I'm sorry, but I cannot allow you to." It stepped in front of the gap and spread its arms wide.

**"And why not?"** He bared his teeth, which must not have looked frightening enough because the guard did not budge.

"You, you are not human. I can tell. And you will release it. I cannot allow the demon to get to my son. I must protect Gaara from it." It looked prepared for a fight even though he could tell that it was only a chakra imprint, albeit a very strong one that could probably last for a century.

Kurama stared slightly blank eyed at the woman before he chuckled. That chuckle became louder until it frowned at him. **"Have you ever actually been in there?"**

Its eyes flicked back to look into the darkness of the gap. "Well… no. If I confront it directly, it will surely defeat me and leave this place." Indigo eyes stared forward once more.

Gesturing to the sandstorm behind him, Kurama asked, **"And this is your doing?"** It nodded in response. **"And its purpose is to contain the demon in this area?" **It nodded once more. **"Well, I'll have to tell you that the sandstorm has spread to the rest of the mindscape. No doubt this is the demon's work to gain control of your son." **

Shock spread across the guard's face, and it lowered its arms. "No… no that can't be true. But I infuse my chakra into Gaara's sand. He's always safe. I'm always protecting him."

**"Your sand on the outside can never protect him from the demon in his head. I'm guessing you've never let your consciousness roam to the outside world since you've been busy containing the demon here." **

"I never… I should've known the demon would do something like this. My poor Gaara." It curled its arm to clutch near its chest. This was apparently a gesture that humans in anguish did often.

If he were human, Kurama would have tried to comfort the mother. Instead, he just turned his head and focused on the anguish coming from within the battlefield. He needed to get in there. **"I can fix this. Just let me through."**

For the first time, the woman looked up at him with eyes full of hope rather than skepticism. It stepped aside and let him through. He could tell that it was hesitant, but its fragile state of mind only allowed it really one choice. Walking past it, Kurama entered into the coliseum.

He followed the light at the end of the tunnel and found himself in the arena, a place surprisingly devoid of sand. Everywhere he looked was hard rock. His brother needed sand in the same way a pig needed mud. Without it, his brother always felt naked. He needed to wrap himself in the grainy stuff. This place couldn't be good for his health and sanity.

However, the lack of sand wasn't the real issue. The real issue was the man who had a chain from its right shoulder that connected directly with his brother's stomach. What was that?

**"YOU INSUFFERABLE WHELP." **Ah, there was his brothers screeching voice that he definitely did not miss.

"Shut up demon," the man hissed. A sandy hand attempted to swat the man away.

**"LET ME KILL YOU."** A tail tried to stab the puny human.

However, it dodged neatly. "How the old coot withstood you for the rest of his measly life I will never understand."

That comment seemed to rile his brother up for reasons Kurama did not know. The sand tanuki stood up for the first time and began full on running towards the human.

**"DO NOT SPEAK OF HIM THAT WAY." **Oh, Kurama had never thought that his brother could gain attachment to any human, but the man seemed to strike a nerve of a sort.

Deciding to interfere with the battle which he assumed persisted endlessly in the container's mind, Kurama spoke. **"Brother."**

That got his brother's attention faster than you could say 'Old Man Sage.' The tanuki's eyes widened, and he came to a stop. He glared at Kurama. **"WHO ARE YOU? YOU ARE NOT MY BROTHER." **

**"But I am."** Kurama walked up to the human man and grabbed the chain that was causing his brother pain. **"You, puny mortal, are not worthy to leech off of my brother's chakra. Begone." **It began sputtering incoherently as kitsune-bi burnt the chain away. The flames licked again the apparition as well, burning it away until Kurama could not feel the man's presence any longer.

Turning to face his brother, Kurama smiled. **"Shukaku, it's been so long."**

The only word that came out of the giant tanuki's mouth was **"Who?"**

He had forgotten how much of an idiot Shukaku was. Kurama unfurled his tails and allowed his ears to poke out of his red hair. That got his brother's attention. The tanuki itself poofed away and a short teenager, looking only a year or two older than Kit, stood before him. The only sign of Shukaku in the boy was the messy blond hair with blue streaks, the golden four-pointed star eyes with black sclerae, and the tail that popped out from behind.

**"Kurama."** Shukaku's lower lip trembled as he ran forward and latched onto Kurama like he was a lifeline. The wailing was intolerable. This was exactly why his brother was so irksome. A clawed hand ruffled the tanuki's hair.

**"Get off Shukaku and quit your sobbing. You're a son of Old Man Sage for Sage's sake."**

The boy sniffled a little longer until he finally pulled away. **"I haven't seen you in so long."**

Kurama couldn't help but smile just a little bit. **"Yes. Now can you tell me what all of that was about."**

Shukaku looked away in an embarrassed way. **"That was my last container."** Kurama raised an eyebrow. Jinchuuriki do not typically stick around after death. **"He used a weird chain jutsu to seal me, and it caused him to follow me to this container."**

**"And you don't like him?"** Kurama couldn't say that he liked his past containers either though.

**"Nasty man. He insults Bunpuku." **His brother being on a name-basis with a container was surprising. Shukaku must have attached himself to a human that was worth it. Kurama stayed silent since he wasn't about to pry.

**"Do you think you could stop tormenting your current container?"** Golden eyes glanced up at him in confusion. **"Do you not know what you're doing to it?"** A shake of the head was his response. Kurama couldn't help but sigh. **"Come with me."**

Holding Shukaku's hand like he was five in human years, the redhead led the blond out of the coliseum. While they were walking, Kurama willed away his tails and ears, and passing through the narrow tunnel without a word, they emerged to see the guard curled up on itself.

The way his brother lit up when he saw the sand brought a small smile to Kurama's face. Of course, that was the first thing he was excited for. Shukaku ran and dove into the sand, ignoring the fact that there was a sandstorm raging above.

The boy swam through sand like it was water and allowed it to slip through his claws happily. He called out, **"Kurama, look! Sand!" **with a big whoop and continued his sand-swimming.

Hollering out like that got the woman's attention, and her eyes snapped up first to his brother and then to him. "You handled the demon?"

Nodding in response, the redhead pointed to the blond currently doing the backstroke. **"There's your demon."**

The guard's eyes whipped back and forth between Kurama and Shukaku a few times before they settled on Shukaku's form. Surprise was written all over its face.

**"Shukaku, come here!"** The boy stumbled over with sand pouring out of his clothes. **"Can you recall all of your escaped chakra?"**

An adorable look of concentration came upon his brother's face as the sandstorm began to calm down. He could sense the waves of chakra reentering Shukaku's body. When all that was left was the woman's sandstorm that walled off the area, Shukaku burst into tears and clung onto Kurama's haori.

**"My chakra did horrible things Kurama!" **he wailed. Pointing a claw at the guard, he continued, **"It possessed its chakra and claimed to be my container's mother." **Poor Shukaku was so upset that he allowed small tanuki ears to pop out and sand to begin hardening around his body.

Kurama tried to calm him down the best he could. Stroking his brother's hair, he responded, **"It'll be alright. It was just pulling a prank." **

He heard a mutter like **"Tanuki don't play evil pranks," **but he ignored it in favor of petting his brother's sandy hair.

Red eyes met with indigo, and Kurama managed a smile for the human. **"If you stop the sandstorm, we can go find your son." **That sprang the mother into action. It dropped all the sand, and the desert become eerily quiet without the roaring winds.

Reaching out his senses, he easily located Kit without all of the chakra-infused grains in the air. Kurama hoisted his brother up in his arms and carried him off into the desert while the guard woman followed silently behind.

* * *

Updated: 25/5/20


	24. Negativity

"Talking"

'_Thinking_'

**"Demon Talking"**

**"****_Demon Thinking_****"**

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

**Chapter 24: Negativity**

* * *

Naruto didn't understand why the storm stopped, but he was grateful. It was seriously starting to get on his nerves. He hadn't had any luck speaking with the boy, who was clutching his chest and his head as if in great pain. Anytime Naruto attempted to speak, sand would lash out, and he would have to back away.

This was a tricky situation he had found himself in. How was he supposed to help a boy tormented by betrayal and lack of love? He was no therapist – he honestly probably needed a therapist himself. There was no way that he could fill the boy with what he lacked the most.

"Gaara!" he exclaimed, hoping to get the younger boy's attention. It did happen to work as teal eyes met with violet.

The other's eyes narrowed. "Who are you? Why has Mother gone quiet?"

That statement confirmed his suspicions that Kurama had been able to handle his brother. Hopefully, the fox would be headed this way such that they could handle the boy together.

Approaching slowly, Naruto held out his hands in a placating manner. "I'm here to help. Let me help you."

"No…" The redhead began to back away. "NO! I only live for myself. I have to prove my existence!" With that statement, the sand became riled up again, and Naruto feared that another sandstorm would start.

"I want to help you Gaara. Settle down." It didn't seem like his words reached the boy anymore.

"You can't help me," the Suna nin spat out. "I can tell even without Mother here. You are just like me. How many times so far have you proved your existence?"

That question was as if asking Naruto how many times he had killed, for proving one's existence and killing were synonyms to Gaara. It caused the brunet to pause. How many people had he killed? How many people had _he _killed? There were too many to count. Technically, it was all Kodanuki's work, but technically Kodanuki was him, and how many people had he killed?

"I'm not sure…" he finally replied. The redhead gave him a look as if he had mildly disappointed him.

"You-" He was interrupted with a shout.

**"Kit!"** Naruto turned around and saw Kurama approaching while carrying a teenager. The look on his face was that of concern? Why would Kurama be concerned about him? There was nothing to be concerned about. Well maybe his near mental breakdown had sparked worry in the fox.

His eyes drifted to a woman following behind them. However, when she saw Gaara, she practically sprinted forward without warning. The boy tried to back away, but her arms grabbed his shoulders quickly before wrapping around him in a tight hug.

The emotions that were displayed in the teal eyes spoke loudly. The boy was somehow resisting the urge to kill the woman while still acting unbelievably surprised. Naruto could relate; something similar had just happened to him after all. Judging by the chakra of the woman, she was most definitely a close relative of the boy, and considering the seal used, she was most definitely his mother.

Kurama came to a halt beside him, and Naruto couldn't help but question the boy in his arms.

**"My brother"** was all the fox said.

"That's your brother? But he's so peaceful. Definitely not what I imagined."

The chakra construct snorted. **"He's usually this sane. It's just that his cursed chakra was causing the container some issues." **

"I see…" was the brunet's only response as he turned once again to the mother and son who had finally separated. It was truly intriguing to watch as the boy who knew not of love was now being filled with it by his mother of all people.

"Where did you find her?" he asked Kurama. He guessed that she had somehow left a strong chakra imprint on her son considering that her chakra was used to sustain the seal.

Kurama proceeded to explain the events that had occurred just prior to his finding of Naruto and Gaara. It seemed that the Suna kunoichi had a strong sense of protecting her son but had been doing it in the wrong place the entire twelve years of the boy's life. Hearing about how the previous jinchuuriki of the tanuki had also been plaguing him for years was also interesting. Naruto knew that there were seals to bind chakra together, but he had never heard of such a strong one that it was still bound when the chakra demon was resealed. Most definitely, he would need to research this when he returned to Konoha.

On a different note, he was irked to a degree that he hadn't been able to help Gaara. In a sense though, it made sense as he was still conflicted inside (whether he chose to admit it or not), and the Suna nin needed a strong support such as a mother with unconditional love and protection.

The more he thought about it, the more he realized that he should probably talk to someone about how he was feeling.

(**"_Yes, you should._"**)

('_Don't interrupt my thoughts._')

Perhaps he would seek out Cat-nee when this was all over, and he would finally be able to sort out his own mental dust devil that had been plaguing him for the past day. No matter how much he thought about it, he just couldn't figure it out by himself.

Well that aside, the mother and son duo had sorted out their issues and misconceptions. Clearly everything was fine now since Gaara was bawling his eyes out while letting himself be cradled in his mother's arms. That was good for him. He really needed a stable support system, and with his mother around in his mind, that seemed to be pretty simple for the Ichibi jinchuuriki. It was fairly heartwarming to watch as all the negativity seemingly vanished from the surrounding area and a warmth settled in.

A bit unnerved to interrupt the happy pair, Naruto stepped up and explained his plan to repair the seal. "Gaara, it seems like your seal was not the main issue, but that you had foreign chakra trapped in your system. I'm going to repair your seal such that it will not be a further issue." The boy clutched onto his mother's scarf and glared at the brunet. "Do not fret, your mother will not disappear as she is a cornerstone in the seal's working and her chakra has integrated itself very much to yours." The grip on the scarf lessened. "This will only take a moment okay?"

The once insane boy nodded, and Naruto set off to work. It was really easy to modify a seal, especially when he had direct access to the mind. His chakra could immediately modify the seal from within. It was a handy trick that he had discovered by tinkering with his own seal while within his mindscape. After years of studying seals, he knew exactly what he needed to do, and the boy's seal was soon free from any flaws or points of exploitation.

Allowing his excess chakra to return to his body, Naruto allowed a look of satisfaction to appear on his face. Addressing the mother and son duo once again, he told them that he and Kurama were prepared to leave. Before he could speak any further, something blond walked up next to him: Shukaku was standing next to him while holding Kurama's hand.

Kurama looked down at his younger brother sternly. **"Now apologize."**

The tanuki boy looked down ashamed and bowed. **"I'm sorry for my actions. I had not meant to torment you all these years." **

That apology had startled everyone else in the vicinity. A bijuu apologizing was unheard of. Kurama seriously worked wonders if he could get his brother to apologize for something partially not his fault.

Gaara stood up, which surprised his mother, and approached the tanuki. Instead of saying anything however, he looked straight at the tail poking out behind Shukaku and suddenly grabbed it. A yelp came from the Ichibi as he started chasing Gaara around the desert, no negativity included. Kurama and Naruto shared a glance and knew that everything was going to be fine here.

The brunet stood, bowed to the Suna kunoichi, and exited Gaara's mind. From there, he simultaneously teleported himself and Gaara back to their dimension, where he watched Gaara's body shed its sand and fall to the ground. Shifting his focus slightly, he glanced at his godfather, who was currently in a henge as the other of the Hokage's bodyguards. A nod signaled the Sannin to release the barrier.

Naruto couldn't help but smirk a little at the startled look on his godfather's face when he realized that Gaara had been crazy one moment and unconscious the next. Even if he hadn't blinked, he would not have seen any bit where the Suna nin was not present in the space. That's how perfect Naruto's seals and pocket dimension were. The seals allowed for instantaneous transportation, and his favorite pocket dimension actually did not move in time relative to this dimension. He owed it all to his parents' notes which described their own experiments with time and space jutsu which he then was able to replicate and improve.

Now that the worst of the finals was over, he could stand back and watch the genin beat each other to a pulp. Gaara had been disqualified for intending to kill the Uchiha after the match was called, and the Uchiha was in no condition to continue the tournament. Therefore, the matches continued without them. This resulted in a modified finals round: a battle royal between the Hyuuga boy, the Aburame boy, and Gaara's sister. It was an interesting match for sure, with the wind scythes not allowing either boy to come close to the girl. The kikaichu of the Aburame were skillfully used too, although with the wind and rotation, the others could block easily. In the end, Naruto was bored by the flashy display of attacks and had tuned out the battle.

He stretched his senses out to see if any forces were approaching the arena. It seemed as if there were none. Oto was not attacking; their forces were most likely disheveled by the loss of their leader and their second-in-command. Suna was not attacking, which meant they most likely discovered the death of their Kazekage. All was peaceful as the Chuunin Finals came to a close.

With the excitement over, he was finally able to allow his tension to dissipate. The thing he needed the most now was to seek out Cat-nee and to ask her for advice. She would understand these feelings that he had within himself. She would know why he was couldn't bring himself to disappoint his godfather.

Heading back to his room, he plopped down on the bean bag. Let it be known to all that bean bags are great places to land after a flash. Shapeshifting back into his original form, placing his mask on, and exiting the room, he sought out Cat-nee. At this time of day, hopefully she was back in her room by now.

Knocking on her door, he waited patiently. He didn't mind waiting for his sister, though she was one of the only people he didn't mind for. A voice from the other side allowed him to enter, and he opened the door.

That's when he saw it, and he really wished he hadn't opened that door. He just had to seek out Cat-nee. Finding out would have been inevitable, but his mind still berated him. There was no point in believing that he would have never known. When he opened the door wide enough to see, it had taken him only a microsecond to process what he saw before he had frozen in his tracks. A picture of Gecko and his katana were set out on a small altar; a small vase with flowers and a bowl of fruit accompanied it.

Gecko had died.

* * *

Updated: 1/6/20


	25. Torture, Pain, Guilt, Regret

"Talking"

_"Flashback Speech"_

_Reading_

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

**Chapter 25: Torture, Pain, Guilt, Regret**

* * *

Yuugao cursed herself. She should have known it was him who was going to enter her room. She hadn't known that he had returned and thus assumed it was someone else. That was so foolish of her. She should have been paying more attention. Why hadn't she thought to pay more attention?

She stormed past Wolf-taichou. He called out to her, but her stride never halted. She needed to fix this. It had been over a day since he had seen it and had questioned her harshly on why Hayate was dead. It still stung to think that she hadn't been there for her fiancé's last moments, but it stung even more to see the way Naruto stormed away. She could have sworn he pulled out a scroll as he did too, although she did not know why.

The kunoichi quickened her pace as she entered the underground department of T&I. Her hypothesis that this was where Naruto had gone off to would soon be confirmed. When she turned the hall towards the interrogation rooms, she noticed two chuunin standing outside of Room C. Yuugao tried to politely get their attention, but it seemed to startle them instead.

"A-A-ANBU-san, how m-may we help y-you?" The poor T&I recruit seemed frightened out of his mind, yet it wasn't because of her presence.

"I'm looking for my colleague Kodanuki. Do you know where I might find him?" Both of their eyes grew wide, and they immediately pointed to the door behind them. "Thank you." She nodded and began towards the door.

"W-wait!" Yuugao turned and glared at them. "I a-apologize, but h-h-he asked to n-not be disturbed." Fear flickered in his orbs. Taking a few deep breaths, he tried to calm himself. His voice suddenly sounded much smaller. "He's been in there for a day. We just got here, and were going to prep the room, but the guys on the last shift told us not to disturb him. He's insane!" She could tell that thinking about Naruto sent shivers down the chuunin's spine. "Apparently, he hasn't taken a break and has been in there with the same person the whole time." That whisper caught Yuugao's attention.

It was much worse than she had suspected. Yuugao need to get him out of there right away. She turned around and opened the door to the cell, and the scent of burnt flesh and blood wafted towards her. Looking in, she saw Naruto standing next to what looked to be a man. Most of his clothes were torn to shreds. There were large welts on his head where his hair used to be. A hot metal rod that the boy was holding in his hand seemed to be the cause. If she wasn't a trained ANBU with years of carnage under her belt, she may have vomited on the spot. However, she calmly walked towards him, the prisoner not even acknowledging that she was there, and grabbed his wrist before he could stab the rod into what defined the poor man as, well, a man.

Violet eyes turned to her and glared. "Why are you stopping me?" Hatred burned in those slit pupils behind the blood-stained mask.

"I'm sure whatever this man did, he did not deserve this," she tried to explain. However, those words seemed to fire the boy up even more.

"No, his punishment is not yet complete. He was the one who killed Gecko. He deserves to be torn piece by piece until he is erased from existence," the fox mask snarled back at her.

That made anger boil in her stomach. This was all about revenge. Her little brother was taking revenge for Hayate, and she hated that. A slap echoed in the room, and a clatter followed as the mask fell to the floor. Naruto's head was turned to the side, surprised widening his violet orbs.

Tears that pooled in her eyes began to fall. "You think that you need to avenge him! Do you think that would make him happy? Do you think he would be proud of you, the swordsman he raised, that you are doing this here and now?" His eyes turned to look at her. "He would be so disappointed in you right at this moment." Her breaths came out as rough pants. "Clean up this mess and meet me outside in five minutes. No excuses."

Yuugao left the bloody cell and stood out in the hall. She couldn't believe that her brother had fallen so far as to need revenge. Revenge was death; it would have consumed him until he knew no more. Why hadn't she sought him out sooner. She just wanted to give him space, and this had to happen instead. She knew that when he was angry, sometimes he resorted to torturing others. It was something she did not like about who he had become. Yet, she had not thought that he may have captured the spy who Hayate had been tailing. She had not thought that he would torture the traitor to that state. That was not torture; that was execution.

With only a few seconds before five minutes left to spare, a bloody Naruto stepped out of the room. She gave him no warning as she threw a black cloak at him. The boy caught it and wrapped it around his body. He did not seem aware of his actions, and his muscles were doing all the work as she basically dragged him to the surface. They exited T&I as the sun rose.

* * *

The Hokage's words echoed in his mind. _"I regret to inform you that Uzumaki Naruto has resigned from the shinobi force." _

Kakashi did not understand, could not understand, how this could have happened. The boy who had been so full of life, so enthusiastic about being a ninja, had quit. He needed to stop thinking about it, and the best place to do that was where other thoughts would fill his head instead.

At sunrise, he was already standing in front of the memorial stone, thinking about all the people he had failed, yet the thoughts of Naruto would not leave his mind. He had failed once again. Had the blond boy quit because he was a failure of a sensei? There was no doubt in his mind that he had been a terrible sensei to his team. Now there would be no way to mend his relationship with his blond student. He wallowed in the regret of not being there for his sensei's son. The boy was gone, and he had no clue where to find him.

Suddenly, he tensed up. He could tell that someone was coming.

He smelt them first. The scent of blood blew downwind towards Kakashi's location, and the metallic aroma was all the information he needed to hide further downwind. It wasn't like all of Konoha did not know he spent his mornings standing in front of the memorial stone. However, whoever was coming this way could be hostile. Better to be safe than sorry.

He heard the voices next. The high pitch voice of a female was chastising whomever her companion may be. Kakashi could pick out the bits and pieces: "You know better than to do that." and "Think of what he would say if he saw you now."

He saw them finally. A tall woman with flowing purple hair walked besides a shorter figure cloaked in black. Kakashi could see tendrils of black hair poking out beneath the hood. The figure hadn't spoken a word, but with their body language, he could tell they were feeling guilty.

The woman, who he identified as Yuugao, one of Konoha's ANBU who he remembered the ANBU recruiting as a girl from the orphanage, stopped in front of the memorial stone; her companion soon followed. The two silently prayed, most likely for Yuugao's late fiancé Hayate. Not a word was spoken between the two for many moments.

Finally, the silence was broken when Yuugao's companion spoke up. "I should've been here. If I was here, none of this would have ever happened. If I was here, he would still be alive." The last sentence came out more like a forced choke than anything. Kakashi's mind was working at breakneck speed. Somehow, the figure – a boy, Kakashi had deduced – felt responsible for Hayate's death. However, what was bothering him more was that he had heard that voice somewhere before. If only he could pinpoint where.

Yuugao spoke up next. "It's not your fault. We all know the risks of being a shinobi. While he was here doing his duty, you were there doing your duty, and the fact that you prevented war from happening would make him proud. I'm sure of it." That slightly stunned the cyclops. A boy that young somehow went away from Konoha to prevent war? That sounded quite fictional if he were to be honest.

More silence ensued for a little while longer, but Kakashi could hear the quiet sobs from the boy. "Thanks for taking me here. I would not have thought to visit this place."

"Of course. That's what big sisters are for." The purple-haired kunoichi wrapped her arm around the young boy's shoulder and drew him closer to her. After another round of silence, she finally asked, "Shall we go?"

"One moment." Out of nowhere, paper and pen appeared in the boy's hand. He quickly wrote something down and stuck it to the memorial stone. "Alright, let's go back." There was less guilt visible on the boy's body as the pair turned around and walked away. If only Kakashi could drop his guilt as quickly as that boy had.

Dropping out of his hiding place and approaching the stone to wallow in regret once again, Kakashi took notice of the paper the boy had left. A twinge of annoyance made itself known as he read the nice calligraphy that said _To Dog_.

Ripping the paper off of the stone and unfolding it, here's what he read:

_Dog, are you so senile that you're eavesdropping on personal conversations now? No respect whatsoever. Looks like age is catching up to you._

His hands shook as his burned the paper to a crisp with a small raikiri. He knew exactly who had written the note, and now he knew exactly who that boy was. No wonder the boy's voice sounded so familiar.

At first, he respected Kodanuki, an accomplished ANBU at an age younger than when Kakashi had entered. However, every moment after that, the boy drove him mad. He seemed to show up everywhere Kakashi was. Perhaps Naruto would still be here if that ANBU hadn't intervened in his search only a month ago.

There was nothing that Kakashi liked about that ANBU. Yet, there was something mysterious about the boy whose ANBU history was classified. Now, he knew a bit more. Apparently, Yuugao was like an older sister to the boy. Apparently, Kodanuki had a strong connection to Hayate before his death.

If there was something Kakashi wanted to know, it was who that boy was. There was no way that he had done so many ANBU missions before and not been teamed up with the boy at least once. On the contrary, if Kodanuki specialized in something just as Kakashi specialized in tracking, then they may have never met. It had bothered him though that that ANBU seemed to know Kakashi's past well and was aware of who he was.

Deciding not to think of it anymore, Kakashi put his attention back onto the stone of regrets and sorrows. Nothing could bother him quite as much as his own failures. If he succeeded in finding Naruto, would he be forgiven for that sin which he had committed before even becoming the boy's sensei? If only he could wash the guilt away as easily as water washed away blood… yet the stains remain.

And in the back of his mind, an inkling grew stronger that there was more to that ANBU than he could imagine and that he had heard that voice not only from that ANBU's mouth.

* * *

Updated: 8/6/20


	26. Reunions Really Do Suck

"Talking"

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

**Chapter 26: Reunions Really Do Suck**

* * *

If Anko could choose one reason why she quit ANBU, it would be because damn Itachi had screwed everything up and made Naru-taichou into a delusional small ball of anger. Their team had split up, and the whole dynamic had been destroyed.

She knew that Naruto loved their team more than anything. He was given a team to prove that he could mature into a great leader. Of course, from what she understood, he was quasi-supervised by Hayate, who joined ANBU just to be on the same team as his little brother. That man was one of the most compassionate Anko had seen, and his death had hit her pretty hard when she heard the news. They weren't always on the best of terms, but Naru-taichou didn't like fighting in the team, so they never outwardly displayed their annoyance for each other. What could she say? Snakes prey on lizards after all.

Well, she hadn't expected much contact with her team after she left. Who knew what had happened to Itachi; Naruto had delved deeper into ANBU, and Hayate had rejoined the normal forces as a tokubetsu jounin like her. She never talked to him again for obvious reasons, but she had slightly hoped she would see her captain once again.

Then it happened. A little less than two months ago, he appeared in the Forest of Death tower as a little blond gaki, and now, he was treating her to dango.

Looking across the table at her dango date, a young man with brown hair and amber eyes smiled. One thing Anko hadn't known was that after she left ANBU, Naruto had become closer with the fox and had taken to learning its tricks, including shapeshifting. The kunoichi had never heard of humans shapeshifting before, but after seeing Naruto, she really wanted to try.

Anko bit off two dango from her current stick and gave the brunet a stare which she hoped conveyed how weirded out she was with this situation.

"So, why'd you call me out here?" Exchanging pleasantries wasn't one of her strong suits; she was more of the get-right-to-the-point kind of person.

"What? I can't treat you to afternoon tea and dango after not seeing you for so long?" His voice sounded genuine, but his eyes spoke differently.

She narrowed her eyes. "What changed? You haven't talked to me in five years."

Biting the empty stick in his mouth, Naruto proceeded to ponder in such a sad way that it was starting to get on her nerves. "After my last job, some things happened. It got me thinking that we hadn't gotten together in a while, and I really wanted to see you again. I miss everyone together, but another one is now lost…"

What were these weird vibes she was getting from her captain? Anko had no recollection of Naruto being so sentimental or some shit like that. Well at least he wasn't cursing. It was a bad habit of his when he was annoyed, which implied that he was currently not annoyed. Thank goodness for that.

"Don't give me that bullcrap. What's the true reason?" There was no way that delusional ball of anger had turned into the creepily smiling man across from her.

"Whatever do you mean?" he asked with a hint of sarcasm in his voice. "I just told you the reason. I only told you the truth. I wanted to see you again."

"And it has nothing to do with wanting to stalk your old friend?" she asked in that I-obviously-know-what-you're-doing tone.

"Why would I stalk you when we're already meeting up Anko-chan?" His eyes twinkled in a way that was starting to really get on her nerves.

She rolled her eyes at him. There was no getting what she wanted when it came to this boy. "Fine. So, what do you want to talk about?"

"I'm leaving Konoha."

Resisting the urge to jump out of her seat, the kunoichi responded, "What?!"

"I'm tired of the people in this place, so I'm going to go on my own journey. You want to come with me Anko?"

This didn't make sense to her. Naru-taichou wasn't the type to abandon Konoha. He was loyal to it like a dog to its master. There was no way he would leave, let alone offer to her to come along.

"For how long?" She couldn't believe she was actually considering this, but she couldn't just leave Konoha. No matter how terribly they treated her, it was still her home and where her loyalties lie.

"Hm… Not sure yet." The brunet gave a smile which spoke of both excitement and mischief. "I want to go hunting, but I don't know how long it will take."

Hunting… What would he be hunting? Perhaps the better term was who would he be hunting? Why would he invite her to go hunting with him? If it was who she thought it was…

"Why me?" she asked as he stood, leaving enough cash on the table to pay for both of them.

Naruto gave her a genuine smile, the kind where his amber eyes sparkled. "Because Anko, you are you." He turned such that she could no longer see his face. "I'll see you again at the river." With that he left and disappeared into the street.

She yelled out in frustration. Nothing made sense with him! Putting her head down, she tried to ignore all the sounds around her. She ignored an annoying genin question his teacher, ignored her best friend going on a date, and ignored the two men who left the tea house.

Well, there was no time like the present! Naru-taichou had said to see him at the river, so that's what she would do (and she wasn't going to apologize for taking the long route either).

* * *

To borrow the words of a Nara, this was troublesome. Kakashi hadn't really expected Uchiha Itachi of all people to show up in the village. He had asked Asuma and Kurenai to follow the Uchiha and his companion, Hoshigaki Kisame, but he was worried that it would be too much for them to handle on their own. He was right.

Now he was dangerously conversing with two missing nin, both who had previously killed members of their own shinobi force. After fighting them, he knew that even he couldn't handle Itachi. However, he needed to get the information, and he wouldn't let himself be caught in another genjutsu that trapped him with a torturous Uchiha for three days.

"Are you looking for Sasuke?" If Itachi was here to finish off his younger brother, Kakashi would not let him. Sasuke was now his genin to watch over. He wasn't going to let that murderer get away with killing the only family he had left. The Uchiha clan was not going to go extinct in Konoha.

The Uchiha paused before his eyes narrowed. "No… we are here for the legacy of the Fourth."

There was a pregnant pause from all present. Kakashi hadn't fully believed Jiraiya-sama when he was told that there was an organization hunting the tailed beasts. Jiraiya-sama had warned him to watch out for his blond genin. Now, if only he knew where that genin was so that he could protect him from having the bijuu extracted.

A voice interrupted, "YOU DAMN TRAITOR!"

A surprised "Anko!" came from Kurenai as the kunoichi landed next to Kakashi. The scarecrow recalled that she had been at the tea house too while he was observing the two Akatsuki members. She had been conversing with a young man, who he deduced to be an old friend of hers, perhaps an ex-boyfriend. It shouldn't have been a surprise to him that she had been suspicious of the two men and followed them as well.

"What are you doing here?" she questioned the men.

"Anko, it's been a while," the raven replied.

"Don't act all chummy with me after you ditched us." Kakashi couldn't really understand what the kunoichi meant by that since he wasn't aware that the two were close before.

Itachi continued on as if she hadn't said anything at all. "Like I said before, we are here for the legacy of the Fourth."

It was Asuma who spoke up. "There is no legacy of the Fourth. He died a bachelor when he killed the fox."

That's where he was wrong. Minato-sensei was secretly married to Kushina, and she bore a son. The silver-haired ninja had only met the boy himself this year, but there was no doubt that Naruto was alive and was the Akatsuki's target.

The sound was so quiet that Kakashi almost missed it, but he was sure he heard Anko snort. Could she possibly also know exactly who they were talking about?

"Well, well, it seems they don't know Itachi. Shall we enlighten them with some fun?" the Kiri nin asked and grabbed onto his sword.

Kakashi needed to stall some more until more reinforcements showed up. "I know who you are. You're the Akatsuki." Silence once again rang after Kakashi's statement.

The Uchiha looked alarmed for an Uchiha. "Kisame, have your fun with the other three, but we're taking Kakashi with us."

Faster than Kakashi could react in his worn-out state, Kisame rushed forward towards Anko. However, that was all he did before red flames engulfed him, and he was shoved back.

"Taichou!" Anko exclaimed before pouting. "You're late! I even took the long way."

"Sorry, I wanted to enjoy the show for just a little." That voice was one Kakashi had become well acquainted with recently. Kodanuki, his 'favorite' ANBU, had arrived. He turned his head just a bit to see a taller man with brown hair; he looked nothing like who Kakashi had expected.

"Anko-chan, take the others away, I'll handle this." Anko shuffled over to Kakashi and grabbed his arm before dragging him back towards Asuma and Kurenai. The cyclops watched as Kodanuki turned his attention to the two men in black and red. "Itachi, you traitor, why have you showed your stupid face?"

"Taichou, this is very convenient. I hadn't expected to see you so soon." Was that sadness that Kakashi saw cross the young Akatsuki's face? And he had called the ANBU "Taichou"?

Even if Kodanuki was an ANBU, taking on two S-rank missing nin by himself would be too much. Kakashi still had chakra left. He could help even if he despised the brat. "Anko, let go. I'm going back there."

"No! Na… Taichou said he could handle it. You can't handle them in your state." The purple-haired shinobi had already met up with the other jounin. However, Kakashi managed to wrestle out of her grasp and raced back just as some sort of seal lit the water beneath them. He could hear Anko yelling at him before all sound disappeared.

There was a strange sensation through his body which reminded him of the times all those years ago when Minato-sensei had to Hiraishin him away from an attack.

He landed in a space which seemed void of all life. The first thing he noticed was that it was white, just white. "Where…?"

"Where did you take us bastard!" the voice of Kisame rang out.

"This is much a surprise Taichou. I did not expect you to master time and space jutsu to this extent in your short life," the voice of Itachi followed.

That's when Kakashi became aware of the two Akatsuki members standing only ten or so meters from him and of the man standing only a few meters away.

The man with amber eyes smiled sloppily with a hint of malice tacked on.

"Welcome to my world! Let's play! Kurama says he wants to play with you too. We can play together!"

* * *

**A/N**

**To clarify, the tortured man was Kabuto.**

* * *

Updated: 15/6/20


	27. No Longer

"Talking"

**"Demon Talking"**

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

**Chapter 27: No Longer**

* * *

"Play? Yes, let's have some fun, me and you!" Kisame exclaimed.

Kakashi couldn't help but be a little afraid of what the ANBU meant when he said "play." Afterall, the last time Kakashi heard him say that word, he had tortured a woman until she was but a broken body.

"Kurama, want to have a go at it?" Kodanuki asked to no one in particular. Without warning, a man dressed in very red formal attire appeared next to him. Kakashi had no clue how he had appeared. Was the man also teleported to wherever they were?

**"Yes, he looks delicious. Can I eat him?"** the redhead asked while licking his lips.

"No! I will not let you satisfy your long pork craving!" Kodanuki snapped back. For some reason, Kakashi suspected this was what a normal conversation was like for these two.

**"Technically Kit, that's shark. And I really want seafood,"** the man whined.

"You are insufferable."

**"You know you love me. I'm your best friend. Plus, we are soulmates, literally!" **The silver-haired man couldn't help but wonder what the man meant by that. It seemed the two were very close. Aside from the strange argument, though, he could tell that the Akatsuki were becoming impatient.

"Yes, yes I love you Kurama. Now go have your fun." Kodanuki waved him off, and the man and Kisame clashed together both with a rabid smile. If they weren't in such dire conditions, Kakashi might have even sweat-dropped.

Kodanuki then turned to look at him, seemingly ignoring Itachi completely like he wasn't be largest threat here. "Dog! Why did you jump in? I had Anko take you away."

"Taichou, leave him be." Both he and the amber-eyed man turned towards the Uchiha. "I'd really like you surrender peacefully." Why was his face still showing sadness as before?

"No can do Itachi. I have things I want to do." To Kakashi, the raven's body language did not look like he was preparing for a fight. It hadn't seemed that way before either, now that Kakashi thought of it.

"Like leaving Konoha?" the Uchiha asked. The scarecrow had some recollection of Anko having a conversation with this man. Considering that this man was Kodanuki, did that mean that the ANBU intended to betray their village?

"Oh? You heard that huh?" the man replied with a slightly mocking tone. "I didn't take you as a spy Itachi."

"No one does Taichou. But that's what we trained for." That's when it clicked for Kakashi. Itachi had been calling Kodanuki "Taichou" which means that Kodanuki was Itachi's senior. Who exactly was that boy? Did that mean that Kodanuki was a captain of a team before Itachi left? That would put him as an ANBU at seven or younger.

"Oh, another thing Taichou. When are you going to stop pretending to be someone you're not?"

Kodanuki had a smirk on his face. "Oh this? You noticed? It's a great trick I learned from Kurama. Even your Sharingan can't tell." He gestured to himself. "Well, I guess I can stop the act now." With a poof of smoke, the boy was back to the masked figure which Kakashi remembered.

"You've grown Taichou. Shall we test if you've grown in strength as well?" Itachi rushed forward with a kunai drawn.

Drawing his sword, Kodanuki rushed forward as well. "I'd be happy to. I hope your growth hasn't been stunted by your idiocy."

The two shinobi clashed together with a clang of metal. Kakashi hadn't noticed it before, but somehow, there was a barrier surrounding him. When he touched it, he saw that it was keeping him in while seemingly keeping others out. It must have been the brat who had put him in a barrier. Was it to keep him safe or to keep him from interfering?

Rushing forward, the boy tried to strike at the Uchiha's chest, but was met head on with the kunai. Both were shifting back and forth, neither blade giving for the other.

The brunet scoffed. "Seems like you've lost your touch Itachi." The chokuto suddenly switched its aim to the enemy's head. However, it was quickly parried before the blades met once again.

"And it seems that you have some new techniques Taichou," the raven replied. "Did you learn from that fox?"

The cyclops was slightly confused at the question Itachi posed. What fox would teach an ANBU? He must have meant an ANBU with a fox mask rather than an actual fox. Yet, he had said "that fox" rather than "Fox" which could imply that it was not a human who taught Kodanuki.

Itachi pulled out another kunai with his other hand and swiped at the ANBU's mask. The brunet jumped back to avoid the knife and took up a stance. Faster than the eye could see, Kodanuki was standing behind the Uchiha, and a gash appeared in the Uchiha's left shoulder.

Glancing down, the raven finally noticed the wound. He frowned and turned around. "Taichou, are you avoiding killing me?"

Kakashi could have sworn that Kodanuki flinched. "Whatever do you mean?" he asked in a mix of nervousness and sarcasm. "I'm not Sasuke. I'm not going to kill you."

Alarm bells went off in the jounin's mind. The boy knew who Sasuke was and what Sasuke's goal was. Overall, it made sense since the brat was an ANBU, but then again…

"That is what I asked my younger brother to do, but from what I saw, he is still far too weak to kill me." From his position, Kakashi couldn't see the Uchiha's face, but he sounded a bit hurt. "Yet, you are not even taking me seriously Taichou."

Kodanuki's body language changed to that of surprise before he once again took up a stance. "Well then, shall we go all out?" Then, he was gone.

Without activating his Sharingan, Kakashi couldn't keep up. He was low on chakra, but he needed to watch this fight. The wheel appeared from behind his headband and darted back and forth to watch the sparks fly where two blades collided.

"Taichou, let's end this now." Suddenly, black flames spread across the vast whiteness of the world, yet as soon as they appeared, they seemed to be sucked into an invisible abyss until they existed no more. Blood was dripping out of Itachi's closed eye while his other eye stared in surprise. "That was unexpected."

"Did you like it? I prepped this place with seals just for you!" Kakashi's eyes switched over to the speaker before he froze. His eye would have definitely discerned if this was a genjutsu of a sort, but the ANBU's body had not shifted in any significant way. "You did manage to knock my mask off in our little bout. That I applaud you."

The neutral face of Naruto was plastered on the brat's head. Why was Kakashi's cute little blond genin's face on another boy? Wait. What would that ANBU brat even gain from wearing the face of his sensei's son?

A possibility crossed Kakashi's mind, but it was so preposterous that he felt the urge to dismiss it quickly. What if Naruto was an ANBU and everything Kakashi knew about the boy was a lie? It would explain the boy's sudden disappearance and why he wasn't ever found. Was there a chance that the boy had been lying to everyone the entire time about his true identity?

No that just wasn't possible. Naruto was a genuine kid with genuine dreams. He was Minato-sensei's son. He couldn't be the same Kodanuki who tormented Kakashi every time he saw him. There had to be another explanation.

"Now that you've stopped hiding behind your mask Naruto, we can begin."

Itachi's words barely registered in Kakashi's mind. He was too busy thinking of how the Uchiha had addressed Kodanuki as "Naruto." It could only mean one thing, and he wasn't too happy with his deduction. The Naruto he knew wasn't real; this was the real Naruto. The boy behind the mask was the real Naruto. The real Naruto was an ANBU captain… a torturer… a killer. The thought sent shivers down the silver-haired man's spine. The optimistic yet idiotic Naruto he had gotten to know was nothing like the boy's true identity. This wasn't a trick, right? The real Naruto was really standing in front of him in another dimension fighting equally with the clan murderer. Who could have done this to his sensei's son?

"Naruto?" Kakashi called out in a last attempt to prove that he was wrong (or to prove that he was right). The boy in question glanced over and clicked his tongue in annoyance.

"Oi Itachi! Look what a mess you got me in now." The jounin blinked. The ANBU hadn't denied his identity. _The ANBU hadn't denied his identity_, which could only mean that the brat standing before him was in fact Naruto. There was no doubt about it this time. A mutter came next: "I had totally forgotten Dog was here."

"Taichou, who is that man to you?" the raven asked in a voice which sounded much like a curious Uchiha.

"Hm… I guess we were acquainted." was the reply from Naruto.

Acquainted… _acquainted_! Was that all that their relationship had meant to him?! Of course, Kakashi knew he hadn't been a great sensei in the first couple months, but surely acquainted was too distant to describe their relationship. Naruto never really reached out to him for much, which was explained by the boy probably already being extremely skilled, but surely the missions the team took together meant something to him.

"I see… despite the mask, I believe you may have offended him."

The brunet turned his head and locked eyes with the scarecrow, violet on black, and a small smile appeared on his whiskered face. "Kakashi-sensei, I will no longer be the Naruto you know."

That statement alone was enough to shock Kakashi out of whatever stupor he was in. He knew that voice. This was the same Naruto who was on his team. That was why the boy knew of Sasuke and his ambition. Then, there was the fox. Kakashi's eyes shifted over to the fight taking place much further away and visibly paled. The man in red had said that they were soulmates. The man in red was bound to Naruto. The man in red was the Kyuubi.

Eyes shifting back to the two in front of him, he barely had time to yell Naruto's name when he saw Itachi's eyes shift to the strange pinwheel shape that had trapped him in that torturous world for three days. Finally out of chakra, he collapsed into unconsciousness unknowing that it would be the last time he would see Naruto.

* * *

Kurama laughed viciously as his chakra whipped around wildly. The man who declared itself the tail-less tailed beast was getting flung around like a rag doll.

Nothing messed with the Kyuubi no Kitsune, destroyer of mountains and razer of villages, mightiest of the bijuu. The shark had messed with the wrong fox, and Kurama found it suitable to teach it a lesson on not abusing power.

The pathetic fish had attempted to fuse with its sword in a last attempt, but it failed as Kurama had found it important to destroy the sword's sentient powers during his last attack. Seriously, he didn't understand why fish were so weak. The only thing they were good for was eating. The fish didn't even understand that kitsune-bi can literally burn chakra and life. It was a power that was only passed down between kitsune (Kit was an exception).

Flopping to the ground, the fish had lost consciousness. The chakra construct wouldn't have been surprised if it had had a few decades shaved off of its lifeforce too. The meat was so burnt up that even he didn't want to take a bite out of it. Burnt fish was not delectable in the slightest.

Kurama placed his hands back into the sleeves of his haori before walking away from the fish. It had showed him a truly pathetic performance, and now he was bored. Perhaps he would see if Kit needed any assistance with his fight.

* * *

**A/N**

**Poor Kakashi... He wasn't paying much attention either if he thought his Sharingan could discern whether Kodanuki was only shifted to look like Naruto. **

* * *

Updated: 22/6/20


	28. Resolution

"Talking"

'_Thinking_'

**"Demon Talking"**

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

**Chapter 28: Resolution**

* * *

The first thing Naruto did was whistle because this was damn impressive. It was practically like an artificial mindscape. He knew that the Sharingan was capable some pretty high-level genjutsu, but this was amazing.

'_Kurama, can you hear me?_' The brunet waited a few moments, but there was no response. That could mean one of two things: only his consciousness was transported to another dimension or time flowed differently in the genjutsu. Considering this was Itachi, he wouldn't be surprised if it was both. This was a good sign that this world was cut off from their world completely and that no one would be listening in to their conversation. After all, the hardest bond to separate was a soul bond, and he would have sensed other souls already if they were here.

"So Taichou, what did you want to talk with me about?"

The jinchuuriki swiveled around to come face-to-face with the Uchiha. An angry frown marred Naruto's face as he marched up and poked a finger to other's sternum. "I'm extremely pissed at you."

Itachi's face continued to be neutral as Naruto continued into a rant.

"How could you leave without telling any of us?! And then the first time I see you in five years, you are sneaking around the village with Hoshigaki Kisame of all people! You ditched us for a shark! I can't believe you. Was it all set up to send me out of the village before you KILLED YOUR ENTIRE FAMILY? THE SADDEST THING TO ME IS THAT SASUKE IS TRYING TO KILL YOU NOW. I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU WOULD TURN YOUR OWN BROTHER AGAINST YOU."

Face red and panting hard, Naruto tried his best to calm down. His next words came out softer: "I can't believe you would turn Konoha against you."

The first sound from Itachi was definitely not what he was expecting: a chortle.

"What's so damn funny?" Naruto asked as he glared into black orbs.

"It's just that I've never been admonished to quite this extent before by someone years younger than myself. It's refreshing."

If looks could kill, the brunet was sure that his current one would have killed already. Five years, a vengeful brother, and a village full of animosity were no laughing matters.

"Gecko was killed a few weeks ago." That statement caused the raven to pause.

"He will be missed…" Naruto knew that although Itachi and Anko weren't as close to Gecko as he was, they still were a team, and the news was still alarming. Silence spread out between the two for a little while longer.

"I heard you've built quite a reputation Taichou, and not a pretty one at that."

He was sure something along the lines of guilt passed over his face. Itachi was the one person he couldn't lie to. "I was angry alright, angry that you left without saying a word. I started talking to Kurama more, and he taught me a lot of things. Then, I started doing more work. I bet the advisors would be happy if they found out. The Hokage didn't like me overworking myself, so he set me up to look after Sasuke until he was a responsible enough genin. Let me tell you, spending five years in the Academy was so boring, but I promised…"

"Promised?" the raven questioned.

"You might find it silly, but in my mind, I promised you that I would look after Sasuke. Who knew that you would turn him into a revenge-seeking lunatic? Anyways, that's what happened, and I still haven't forgiven a certain someone for it."

"I see… I don't believe that hundreds if not thousands of kills can be easily categorized as 'overworking yourself.' That's just insanity."

"Says the person who killed his whole clan in a night…" Naruto pouted.

"And considering that you are conversing with me like this, I see that I am not the one who is not forgiven. This leaves… the Hokage who you no longer address as Jiji?"

Violet eyes flashed in surprise. "Sharp as ever Itachi."

"I had hoped you wouldn't be that idiotic," the Uchiha brazenly said. "Did you even look into it? Surely with your abilities, you would have seen that Sarutobi-sama is not to blame."

"Just because he didn't directly issue the order, doesn't mean he isn't guilty. He let it happen! There were so many opportunities to mend the divide between your clan and Konoha, and he never took any of them until that other geezer took it into his own hands. Knowing you, you thought you were doing the best thing for 'the greater good.'"

"And I would have you know that he despised every part of the order," Itachi deadpanned. That didn't make any sense to Naruto. If he had despised the decision, he would have stopped it. "By the look on your face, the one person you refused to investigate further was Sarutobi-sama himself. You should forgive him, not for him but for you."

Naruto's tone changed to that of mocking as he said, "Like you have forgiven yourself for killing your clan?"

The Uchiha flinched. "That is something I am working on Taichou. However, I believe that it would be to your benefit to forgive the Hokage. Also, do the work you desire. Carnage is not you."

Pondering for a while – probably longer than necessary – Naruto knew what he needed to do next. "Alright Itachi, only because you are saying to do so." A hand found its way to the top of his head and ruffled his hair. "Oi!"

"I saw Sasuke battle the Suna jinchuuriki. That was the actually the reason I returned although Kisame thinks that we came to collect the Kyuubi. To be honest, my brother has a long way to becoming strong. Perhaps I wronged him by leading him on a quest of revenge."

"Sasuke's arrogant, but Dog's trying to set him a bit straighter. That battle was definitely the strongest I've seen him, yet he still didn't fare well against Gaara. If I hadn't stepped in, he would be dead."

Itachi smiled for the first time since their reunion began. "Thanks for saving my foolish little brother, but that can be the last time."

Nodding in agreement, the brunet explained, "I wasn't kidding when I told Anko that I'm leaving Konoha. There's a mission that I want to take. I don't like leaving loose ends."

"Are you suggesting that you're cleaning up? I thought you hated cleaning Taichou."

Naruto swatted at the raven's head playfully. "Oi, this is different." Then, in a more subdued voice, he said, "I'm sure that this place is taking up a lot of your chakra, so let's end the meeting here."

"Yes, it is a bit taxing considering I have been overusing my Sharingan lately." Surprise overtook Itachi's face as the brunet wrapped his arms around Itachi. He felt a foreign chakra enter his system and mark his mind's body. "Taichou, what is this?"

"A teleportation seal for when you want to return. I know that you probably want to continue your undercover mission, but when the time comes, come to this world and pulse chakra into the seal. Since my Hiraishin can transcend time and space, I will be able to come back here."

Something like joy glimmered in the Uchiha's eyes. "Thank you Taichou."

The world blanked out as they came back to their world. Naruto was shockingly impressed to see himself in the same position that he left. Scanning his pocket dimension, he could tell that Kurama had cooked the shark extra crispy and that Dog had gone unconscious.

He pinpointed the location of Itachi and Kisame, and the seals beneath their bodies began to glow. "Until next time, Itachi-nii." He waved goodbye as the two Akatsuki members were transported to a cozy field in the middle of the Land of Tea.

That was it. He had gotten to see Itachi, and perhaps this is what people felt like when they received closure. There were only two more things left on his list before he left now. Naruto wondered if Anko would say yes to his proposition for her to come along with him. He definitely wouldn't mind the company after all.

**"Kit! You alright?"** Kurama called out while walking in that way that Naruto dubbed his "fancy priest walk."

"Yeah, I'm just fine. Let's head back. I'll drop Dog off at the hospital on our way." He chuckled as he noticed the position Dog was in: he had slumped against the barrier in such a way that it seemed as if he were trying to kiss it. Releasing the barrier, he sealed Dog into a stasis scroll for easy transport.

**"By the way, why did you let them go?"**

Naruto smirked. "No one needs to know that. Besides, Itachi has an important mission to fulfill, and it wouldn't look good on his end if he had lost his partner in a casual excursion." Then, he summoned his mask from where it had dropped (seals are so convenient, he thought to himself), replaced it over his face, and shifted back into the earlier figure with brown hair and amber eyes. Now that he thought about it, he couldn't help but think of the irony that he met a Kiri nin while shifted into a man he had based off of a Kiri nin he once fought.

Kurama allowed himself to return to the jinchuuriki's body before they both left the pocket dimension and landed back on the river. Turning around, he waved at Anko, who had just finished yelling at Dog.

"Anko-chan!" He waved.

"Taichou! Everything's finished already?" she asked back, ignoring the confused faces of the two jounin still beside her.

"Yup! They got away though." Meeting up with her, he put a hand on her shoulder as a silent sign which she understood immediately. It was his way of telling his team that he had his reasons, and they always understood.

That moment was when Kurenai spoke up. "Anko, who's this?"

Anko perked up. "This is Ei-kun, my…" She pondered for a long moment. "…an old friend."

Naruto resisted the urge to face-fault. That was a pretty terrible cover up. The funny thing was, though, that she was actually really great coming up with lies on the spot during infiltration jobs. It was probably much harder to lie to her best friend than to a stranger in another town.

Before, Kurenai could question any further, Asuma asked, "Where's Kakashi?"

The brunet held up the scroll. "I'm dropping him off at the hospital now. Come on Anko. I wanted to get your answer too." For the last time, he addressed the jounin. "It was nice meeting you, Kurenai-san, Asuma-san."

Unknowing to Naruto, the two jounin would ponder for years on how he knew their names and why they couldn't find a shinobi in Konoha's records that matched his name and description.

As the ANBU and former ANBU walked together, they were ignored by the majority of citizens on the road. "So, did you think about my offer?"

The kunoichi nodded in response. "I think I'll have to pass Taichou. I know that your trip is highly pertinent to a certain someone." At this, she grabbed her shoulder with a grimace. "But I want to stay in Konoha. It's where I'm at my best."

"I understand." He laughed, and she looked at him in slight astonishment. "I knew you would say something like that. I know your loyalties lie here. Plus, you won't be able to scare the genin during the next Chuunin Exams if you went with me. I don't know how long I'll be gone for."

"I was happy that you invited me though. I would have loved to spend more time catching up after these five years." Anko paused at a crossroads. "Well, I have to do some shopping. See you later Taichou!" She sprinted down the other street and was gone.

Finishing the rest of the walk to the hospital alone, Naruto was glad to have seen his teammates again. There were some more things he understood, and it was like a small weight was lifted off of his shoulders.

After checking Dog into the hospital, there was only two things left to do.

* * *

Updated: 29/6/20


	29. Rise to Light

"Talking"

'_Thinking_'

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

**Chapter 29: Rise to Light**

* * *

When Jiraiya received the message – he ignored the fact that the fox had bit him pretty hard as some sort of warning – he was overly ecstatic. It said to meet at Ichiraku's at 1400 hours for lunch.

So, that was exactly what he was doing now. He stepped underneath the noren curtains and sat next to the only other man in the stand. Although his eyes saw a man that looked nothing like his godson, the man with deep red hair was tapping the Wabun code for toad and fox.

"It's good to see you again," the redhead at the counter said.

"You as well." Then, hesitantly he added, "Will _he _be here?" To be honest, the toad sage did not want another encounter with the fox who almost killed him.

Knowing exactly who he was talking about, Naruto responded, "No, I told him to stay inside. Hopefully, he honors his word." That was a relief to hear.

Awkward silence panned out between the two. What exactly was he supposed to say to the godson he thought was dead for twelve years? They were strangers to each other, and one hug hadn't really changed that.

"So… what do you do in your free time?" the Sannin asked after ordering some ramen for himself. A bowl had already arrived for the redhead.

The other thought for a little before responding. "Eat ramen and train, I guess. I used to take missions every night, but those have gotten less frequent lately."

Jiraiya blanched at the latter half of the response. This boy took missions _every_ night. When did he ever find the time? Better to move on to another topic he supposed.

"What kinds of techniques have you learned so far?" It wasn't as if he didn't know the answer, but he wanted to hear it from his godson.

Slurping on some noodles, the redhead took his time. "I know most of my parents' techniques as well as techniques that my tenant has shown me. Ibiki also taught me much on his specialty."

Ibiki's specialty was torture and interrogation… Was his godson going around torturing people for a living?! Jiraiya sure hoped not, but he couldn't shake the feeling that the boy wouldn't have mentioned it if it wasn't part of his normal.

This conversation was honestly going nowhere. If his ramen had not just been placed in front of him, the Sannin surely would have slammed his head down on the counter.

"I know this is a bit sudden, but I'm leaving soon. I hadn't meant for this to be a goodbye, yet that is exactly why I called you here today." Those words were definitely not what he expected. Naruto was leaving after they had just met.

He found himself asking before he had even fully considered it. "Do you want company?"

The noodle slurping sound stopped as gray eyes shifted to look at him. "Are you serious?"

"Of course!" He suddenly found himself unable to meet those stormy orbs. "I regret not being here for you before. Please let me be here for you now and in the future."

Something along the lines of panic yet relief settled on Naruto's face. "I wouldn't mind it if you're offering," he mumbled.

"When do you go? I'm always packed." For some reason, which he knew exactly, Jiraiya was unbelievably eager. Based on the boy's status, it wouldn't be an apprenticeship. Perhaps they could consider it a partnership and relationship building trip.

"I'm actually meeting with the Hokage soon to tell him. You can come along too. I'm sure you'll need to report your absence."

* * *

So, that's exactly what they did. An hour and a half later, the Hokage sat before godfather and godson.

"Naruto-kun, what's this I hear about you leaving?" Kakashi had made Sarutobi aware of the boy's planned departure after he had awoken from his chakra exhaustion. That was, he vehemently declared his dissatisfaction of how Sarutobi had raised the boy in a two hour long heated discussion before the Hokage had to ban him from his office for the rest of the week. He was not about to deal with an angst-ridden jounin who had not calmed down from a childish fit.

The ANBU boy unsealed a small crystal ball and showed it to him and his student.

"This is a what I call a soul-seeking orb, or tamatama for short." At this, he heard a snort come from Jiraiya's direction. Of course, his student found it amusing that that piece of technology was abbreviated by genitalia. "I discovered that I could seal a piece of a soul into a crystal, and it would point in the direction that the next nearest piece of the soul lies."

"That's remarkable," Jiraiya interrupted. "You did that with fuinjutsu?"

"Yes." Violet eyes glared in a playful way. "Now as I was saying, I sealed a certain someone's soul in here. He had divided his soul multiple times, and I don't want any of those slivers to somehow bring him back to this world. Thus, I am going to seal the rest of his soul away once and for all."

To say he was surprised would be an understatement. First, the boy had done away with his former student when he himself had failed to do so. Then, he now declared that he could actually find the exact locations of the fragmented soul that his former student had left behind.

He was a bit disappointed that this technique had not been brought to his attention earlier, but he would not be able to reject the boy of this mission. Deep down in his heart, he knew that he wanted it and needed it to be done for the good of shinobi.

As if reading his mind, the brunet once again spoke up. "I wanted you to be informed on my decision to undertake this mission. However, I have already discussed it with Soutaichou, and he gave me the go ahead. I guess this meeting is just for formality's sake."

Contrary to popular belief, a shinobi did not necessarily need permission from the Hokage to go on a mission. If this shinobi was an ANBU, they would typically receive missions from the ANBU commander. After all, the Hokage was a busy man. He only assigned ANBU missions if he personally was concerned with the contents of the mission. Yet, because Naruto had been under his direct command for some five years now, it was only right to inform the Hokage of this decision.

"Oh, and there's one more thing. Jiraiya-oji-san will be coming with me." Sarutobi could see tears of joy streaming down Jiraiya's face at the honorific he had received from his godson. However, it was a bit concerning that one of the strongest shinobi in his force wanted to partake in this mission for an undetermined amount of time.

"I'll still be managing my spy network and sending you reports Sensei," Jiraiya added.

This sent the Hokage into thought. He couldn't bring himself to deny this request, for he had wronged the boy so many years ago, and he deserved to spend time with his godfather. Hiruzen's grandfatherly side won against his militaristic side, and he nodded in acceptance.

"On one condition, however. I would like you to seek Tsunade and request that she return to the village. The medical program has been declining tremendously ever since her departure. It would be beneficial if more of our shinobi could be under her tutelage."

He could tell that the ANBU wanted to reject his request, but the Sannin stopped him. "We'll send Tsunade-hime back to you Sensei."

"See to it that you do." He puffed on his pipe. "If that is all, I'll see you when you return, Jiraiya, Naruto-kun."

"You won't" was the blunt response from the jinchuuriki.

"Elaborate," Sarutobi said whilst trying to understand the strange comment.

Kodanuki's mask appeared in the boy's hand. He stared at it for a moment before meeting eyes with the Hokage. "I'm retiring this mask. It's served its time."

Silence rang loud and clear throughout the room. Hiruzen was a bit stunned to say anything immediately.

"Naruto-kun, are you sure that is a wise decision?"

The boy nodded in response. "I discussed this with Soutaichou as well, and he agreed to it."

"I see…" This made things a bit more complicated. If Sarutobi was not aware of what mask Naruto wore next, he would probably not be able to identify him. Both sides of him screamed that this was a terrible idea.

"Well then Hokage-sama, we will be taking our leave." He glanced up, not wanting to say a word, and watched as Jiraiya exited the room first. The boy paused as he was about to exit but did not turn around. "Bye Jiji," he said before departing.

The pipe that had been in his hand dropped to the desk as the words repeated in his mind. _"Bye Jiji_._" _He had called him "Jiji" again. Hiruzen had never imagined that he would hear that word spoken from that boy's lips ever again.

For so long, he had wondered where that bright boy they raised had gone. That very question had increasingly plagued him as the years went by. However, today he found his answer.

Sarutobi himself was the reason that the always bright Naruto-kun had fallen into darkness. His grandfatherly side cursed for not realizing that he may have been the one at fault. There was no undoing the past, but there was always the future. This was not a farewell; he would make sure of that.

'_Until we meet again Naruto-kun._'

* * *

Completing his final goodbye, Naruto returned to his room. He had already sealed away all his belongings, so the room was filled with emptiness. This was the place that he was raised, but it need not be the place he lived.

He was ready for a fresh start, a new beginning. He wouldn't let himself be tied down to the past any longer. There was no stopping the excitement that bubbled inside of him.

The last goodbye he had wanted to make was with Cat-nee. She was always supportive of him, and he was sure that she would have supported him going on a journey – though it was actually a hunt – of his own.

When he had knocked on her door and noticed that she was not there, it hit him that she was probably on a mission. She had been in the village every other time he had gone to see her that it had not occurred to him that she may have been sent out. Cat-nee was such a constant in his life that he occasionally forgot that she too had her own jobs to do. Was this how she felt every time she had walked through these halls expecting him to be there even when he wasn't?

The worst part of it was that he had realized that he had never fully apologized for his reaction to Gecko's death. In a last-ditch attempt, he slipped a letter (sealed of course) under her door so that when she returned, she would know where he had gone. Perhaps he would send a kitsune to see her once and a while and make sure that she was alright.

Now that he was ready, he glanced around the empty room once again. It was funny really how this felt quite similar to when he left the dingy apartment only a month and a half ago. He hadn't really felt any attachment to the people he had met when acting as a genin, but it was still difficult to leave a place he had bonded so well with.

Unsealing his mask for the last time, he traced the purple stripes that ran across its cheeks like vertical scars. There was a point in time when he believed that he and Kodanuki were not the same. Kodanuki was a torturer and a killer. Naruto was nothing of the sort; he was an ANBU captain and a brother. Time and time again, he denied his identity and separated the personalities.

Today, though, he knew that he was both, and he was okay with how it all turned out. There were some rough times for both Naruto and Kodanuki, but he had gotten through it, no matter who he was.

On his way out, he left the mask in Wolf-oji-san's office – his uncle was the one to give him the mask in the first place after all. He wouldn't be needing the mask anymore, and he pondered what mask awaited him next.

He climbed the steps two at a time until he reached the non-descript rock which hid the exit. With a few hand seals and the swiping of blood, the stone rolled away to reveal the forest. Naruto ascended into the light as the stone rolled back into place.

Waving to his godfather, who had been waiting for him, he pulled out the tamatama, and they took off in whatever direction the orb pointed them. With his past behind him, Naruto was ready for new bonds and new adventures.

_End_

* * *

**A/N**

**I hope that everyone enjoyed reading about Naruto's story as much as I did. I appreciate all readers and especially want to give shoutouts to TigrezzTail, pmotana, aGnamZer0, thor94, Xerzo LotCN, SkylerHollow, Otaku of Anime, and all reviewers.**

**Until the next story,**

**\- TipsyKitsune**

* * *

Updated: 6/7/20


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